2Be
bearing the burdens of one another, and thus you will fulfill the law of Christ,
3for if one is seeming to be something being nothing, he is
deceiving himself. 4And each of you should be examining his own work
and then the boast will hold only into himself and not into the other, 5for
each one will bear his own load.
As I said under verse 1, this section (6:1-10) has never
really made much sense to me. I could take individual verses and get some
meaning from them, but I couldn’t see how they fit together, or what they had
to do with the previous 5 chapters.
Now it seems apparent to me that Paul is, in fact, making
some very salient applications of his entire law vs. spirit discussion. In
addition, I believe he is very specifically making those applications in the
local church setting, precisely because that is where the Galatians are having
their issues. A mean-spirited division has arisen in the Galatian
church following the introduction of legalism and the thus-inevitable devolving
of the church into flesh-driven thinking and behavior. Paul would have them
know that real Spirit-led freedom in Christ produces very different behavior.
Right off the bat, in verse 1, we learned that Spirit-led freedom will change
how we deal with people we think are wrong or have failed. The Spirit’s
indwelling enables us to continue to love, to be gentle and humble as we would
sincerely seek their best, instead of either a) ignoring them or b) resorting
to a mean, censorious, judgmental spirit – the result of legalism and a work of
the flesh.
As we move on to verse 2, Paul is continuing to offer very
immediately practical implications for a church body. He says next that
Spirit-led freedom in Christ will move us to “bear one another’s burdens.” This
means literally to get our own shoulder under the load that is bearing down on
someone else, particularly (in this context) the other people in our church. It
means to see that someone else is struggling under the weight of something and
to be willing to put our shoulder into it too.
At this point, that could sound all very cliché, the kind of
thing people would chime and repeat endlessly in Sunday School. But does anyone
really do it? Paul wouldn’t be making this application if it weren’t highly
likely we would not do it. And note in context he is suggesting that
where legalism has been allowed to fester, it is most likely it won’t
happen. It takes Spirit-control to move us to actually “bear one another’s
burdens.” This is not a law-thing. “Against such things there is no law.” What
he is talking about is the spontaneous outpouring of a heart indwelt by the
Holy Spirit of God and controlled not by a set of rules but by the loving heart
of Jesus Himself.
Satan, and our flesh after him, was a murderer from the
beginning. He loves to take life, not give it. But our Savior is the ultimate Burden-bearer. “Surely He took up our
infirmities and carried our sorrows … He was pierced for our transgressions, He
was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was laid
upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isa 53:4,5). What Paul is
saying is, if we truly give our heart to Jesus, if the desire of our heart is
to know His heart, if we live in the wonder of how He has born our burdens,
then how can we do less than want to bear the burdens of our fellow believers?
Again, this is not a law-thing. Law cannot and will not produce people who
genuinely love like this.
Note Paul does not say to sympathize with others’ burdens,
he doesn’t say to send them a card and tell them, “Call if you need me.” He
says, “Get your shoulder under the load.” The other things may in fact be
genuine expressions of love but obviously they’ll be meaningless if not accompanied
by specific action. As James said in 2:15,16: “Suppose a
brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go
in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs,
what good is it?” As John added, “Dear children, let us not love
with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
I would note that, in order to put my shoulder to the load
of someone else’s burden, I first need to know it’s even there. What I mean is
this very charge begins with asking myself, “Do I even know what other people’s
burdens are?” Do I listen for them? Do I watch for them? Am I skillful at all in
picking up the perhaps subtle signals that would tell me someone else is
struggling? I would surmise that most of the burdens people bear, they simply
won’t tell you about. The only signal I may see is those tired eyes, or that
face that took just a second too long to smile, or an unconscious deep sigh.
Hmmmmm. I wonder if I really know anything at all about genuinely bearing others'
burdens?
I think before I go on, I’m just going to stop here and pray
about this. I do want to live a Spirit-led life. I want to live out the freedom
of living not by law but by communion with the very heart of the Burden-bearer.
Paul finishes this verse by saying, “and so fulfill the law of Christ.” That
law is not a set of rules but rather a heart of love, love first for God and
then for people. I want to pray about this business of being a burden-bearer. Am I sensitive enough to people to know they're burdened? Am I willing to
spend the time and effort to put my shoulder to their load in some tangible,
genuinely helpful way?
Once again, I fear this charge is so cliché that in all
likelihood everyone assumes they’re doing it, while in fact it rarely occurs.
Very interesting. Definitely needs some brooding time. Will return.
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