Strengthening the Weakest Link

"I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me... I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." -Matthew 25:40;45

Wow! It's been a while since I added an entry to my blog. My last post was over 5 months ago. A lot has happened since then. My father-in-law finished his cancer treatments and moved back to his home in New Mexico, I celebrated my 40th birthday, my 11 year-old son started Boy Scouts (which has resulted in some weekend trips), my 14 year-old daughter spent the Spring season on the High School Track Team, and I gradually recovered from an injury.

In my last post, I wrote about making the transition to minimalist, near-barefoot shoes. About a month after I wrote my blog entry, I suffered my first running-related injury in years: a stress fracture in the third metatarsal of my right foot - which led to a self-imposed 5 week vacation from running to allow my foot to heal. Over the past several months, many people have asked me if my minimalist shoes caused my injury. When they ask me that, I never say yes. My shoes didn't cause my injury - I caused my injury.

A stress fracture is an overuse injury. It isn't caused by blunt force like other bone fractures. As I wrote in my last blog, the muscles in our legs and feet serve as shock absorbers. When muscles are overtired, they are no longer able to lessen the shock of repeated impacts. When this happens, the muscles transfer the stress of impact to the bones. This can create small cracks or fractures. That is exactly what happened to me. When people ask me what caused my injury, I tell them the rest of my body was in better shape than my feet and I pushed my feet too far, too fast. My feet were my weakest link... and the weakest link broke.

I knew that going in to the transition from traditional running shoes to the Vibram 5 Fingers. I knew that if I didn't give my feet the opportunity to adapt to the added stress, I would develop a stress fracture. I knew it... I was just too impatient. My body was capable of running 5 to 6 miles (or more). My feet weren't. Instead of taking the time to strengthen the weakest link of my body, I impatiently forged ahead, running 5 to 6 miles a day, until my feet couldn't keep up any longer. I remember the day it happened. The arch of my left foot was a little chaffed and irritated. That caused me to favor my left foot a little and put just enough of an increased load on my right foot to "break the camel's back," so to speak. That was it... no running for 5 weeks. Obviously, cutting off my feet and getting a stronger, faster pair wasn't an option. So, the body that was eager to run 5 to 6 miles a day was forced to stop running all together.

That whole experience got me thinking. How many times do I do that in my relationships with other people? How many times do I do that in the leadership roles that I have... as a father... as a worship pastor? How many times do we as leaders in the church or community do that? Do what, you ask? How often do I... do we get impatient with the weaker ones in our body and try to forge ahead with those who are up to speed with where we want to be... leaving the weak susceptible to hurt and injury?

Throughout the Bible, we see that God's heart is not just for the strong and able. He pays special attention to the weak. We see story after story where God hand-picks the smallest and the weakest to work on His behalf - pouring into them His grace and strength and equipping them for the God-sized dreams He calls them to. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us this insight into the heart of God:

"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish." Matthew 18:12-14

In speaking about the promised return of the Lord, the Apostle Peter says this about God's heart toward the weaker amongst us:

"The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent." 2 Peter 3:9

If a holy and perfect God can be that patient and longsuffering with sinful mankind, then shouldn't we, as recipients of His patience and mercy, be patient and longsuffering with those who need our help to grow into mature disciples of Jesus. Besides, the fruit of the Spirit, if we indeed are filled with the Spirit, is patience/longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, goodness, etc.

Throughout the New Testament of the Bible, the Church of Jesus is often compared to a body. Just as cutting my feet off and replacing them with a stronger, faster pair was not an option; treating weaker souls under our care as dispensable resources should not be an option either. In a true body, all parts are needed - weak and strong alike... otherwise it is not a complete body. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote this:

"In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad." 1 Corinthians 12:22-26

After my five weeks of rest were over, I began running again - this time with a focus on strengthening my weakest parts. For the past 10 weeks, I have been gradually increasing the intensity and distance of my runs - starting out 10 weeks ago with a very conservative run/walk program, to now running 30 - 40 minutes at a time. As I have paid special attention to strengthening my weak feet, my entire body has gotten stronger. The same should be true of a church... or a team... or even an organization. If everyone in the body works together to strengthen it's weakest parts, then the body as a whole will get stronger.

My question now is, am I applying that knowledge to other areas of my life: When I lead worship, am I only leading the most exuberant worshippers in our congregation, or am I taking care to lead the newest worshippers in our body as well? Do I get impatient and feel frustrated when other members of my family can't move forward as fast as I can, or do I take the time to teach and explain so that we can all move forward together? I hope so. I know that if I am daily filled with the Spirit of the ever-patient God, then I will be well able to. The same can and should be true of you as well.

Let's run the race... together... not leaving anyone behind.