Bearing one another's burdens
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
This exhortation from Paul in the closing section of one of his earliest letters to the new Christian communities in Galatia (modern-day Turkey) during the middle of the first century (nearly 2,000 years ago) is striking in its simplicity and in its promise.
What does it mean to bear one another’s burdens? What is the law of Christ which Paul says is being fulfilled when we bear one another’s burdens? Which burdens are we supposed to bear? Who is meant by “one another”?
Before we address these questions, let’s address common knowledge and objections to the idea of caring for others in general.
Common knowledge: Nearly all human beings acknowledge the general value and importance of serving and caring for the needs of others. This is not a distinctly Christian idea.
Christian knowledge: The distinctly Christian idea of serving and caring for others is in the depth of care and in the lack of conditionality. Christian service and care is to be significant and sacrificial. It is to be deeply felt by the recipient and to be distinctive and clear to others. It is to be offered whether or not there is reciprocation, whether or not the recipient is a friend, and whether or not we are thanked or rewarded for our investment. This is Christian love.
Common objection: A problem which is commonly raised to the Christian idea (whether consciously or subconsciously) is that bearing burdens for others is complicated and difficult, allowing others to take advantage of us and often not resulting in lasting change for the recipient. Our thinking may go something like this:
We are hurting rather than helping: We don’t want to “enable” poor people to persist in bad behavior by our well-meaning acts of love.
Our little actions are too small to produce change: We believe that poverty is so complicated that our little actions may not meaningfully address the problem.
We believe the real problem is spiritual or relational rather than material: We also remind ourselves that the root problems of poverty are not material but rather are relational and spiritual, so addressing material needs doesn’t bring fundamental change.
There may be some merit to each of these objections, but there is a problem if we do not address these objections but instead let them cause our burden-bearing to grind to a halt altogether. Something has gone wrong if this happens. Meanwhile, the burdens continue to be borne by the weak and the poor without help from the strong and the rich.
Let’s revisit the questions raised above.
What does it mean to bear one another’s burdens? As mentioned above, the Christian idea of bearing one another’s burdens means serving and caring for the needs of others in deep and significant ways (which require personal sacrifice for the person bearing the burdens of others) and without condition (without waiting to be asked, without discrimination or partiality, without waiting to be thanked, without waiting for friendship, and without expecting reciprocity).
What is the law of Christ which Paul says is being fulfilled when we bear one another’s burdens? Jesus said,
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
The law of Christ which is being fulfilled when we bear one another’s burdens is the command to love one another.
Which burdens are we supposed to bear? We must bear the burdens which present themselves to us; that is, we must bear the burdens which God reveals to us. We must be observant and prepared to bear them. We must not only bear the burdens which are easy for us to bear or which will be easily seen by others. Rather we must bear the actual burdens of others, whether or not they are easy for us to bear (we can do all things through Christ who will strengthen us as we obey Him) and whether or not others will see us (let us not do things in order to be seen by others).
Who is meant by “one another”? We cannot bear the burdens of the entire world. We are limited by our humanity. We must be prepared to bear the burdens of certain people in particular. Who are these people?
In order for us to know the specific burdens of others, we must have a relationship with them. The relationship could be 30 seconds long or 30 years long, but it must be an actual relationship characterized by proximity, understanding, touch, sight, hearing, or some other form of connection.
Whom do we have relationships with? Those are the people whose burdens we are to bear.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:8-10)
Jesus (John 13:34-35) and Paul (Galatians 6:10) tell us to focus in particular on our relationships with other people in the household of faith (i.e. “one another”).
So, let us prioritize loving one another by bearing each other’s burdens and ask God to cause our love for one another to overflow into love for the world.
Discussion questions:
What other objections (besides those raised above) prevent me from working to bear the burdens of others?
What barriers in my life prevent me from bearing the burdens of others?
Who are the people in my life whose burdens I am to bear?
What are the burdens of the people in my life which I am to bear?
How can we create a culture in our spiritual community of bearing one another’s burdens?
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In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)
And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” (Luke 3:11)
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)