Monday, May 27, 2013

Galatians 6:2-5 – “Really Caring”



Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses

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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