Correct Ideas of Burden Bearing

GAL. 6:2: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."

Verse 5: "For every man shall bear his own burden."

The apostle Paul was decidedly a reasoner. A mind as logical as his would not find it difficult to preserve consistency either of statement or conclusion. Certainly he would not contradict himself in writing two sentences so nearly connected as are the above quoted from his letter to the Galatians. And yet were all the "burdens" of life alike in their nature, and to be borne under like circumstances, we could see no consistency in the two verses.

In looking around we shall find three kinds of burdens to be borne; viz., those which we can and ought to bear with or for one another; those which we cannot bear for one another; and those which we ought not to bear for one another.

The first, referred to in verse 2, are burdens which are laid upon us as servants of God; those which fall upon us because we are the followers of Christ. These are the scoffs, scorns, insults, hatreds, persecutions, losses, and injuries, we receive or suffer as Christians. Such we should bear for each other's sake, not only as a duty, but as a joyful privilege.

As a duty, because it is enjoined by our Saviour; it is to follow him in his labor of love, who suffered not for himself, but for others. It is the manifestation of the spirit of the gospel; the spirit of disinterested kindness—the opposite of all selfishness.

As a privilege, because it is suffering for Christ's sake; rather, it is suffering with him. His servants are his representatives, and what we do to or for them, we do to or for him. Matt. 25:40. Paul rejoiced in his sufferings for his brethren, because he thereby filled up that which was behind the afflictions of Christ, in his flesh, for his (Christ's) body's sake, which is the church. Col. 1:24. No doubt all the disciples regretted through all their lives that they "forsook him and fled" in the hour of his betrayal. It was a sore trial to the flesh then, but what a record would it have been for one of them to stand boldly by his side, and prove the anger of the Jews and the power of the Roman soldiers for the sake of their Master—the holy Son of God! What a privilege it is to suffer with Jesus!

And there are some burdens which we must bear alone; no human aid can reach us in the struggle. These are the burdens of personal duty; of self-denial; of cross-bearing; of overcoming our besetments and passions. These, perhaps, the apostle referred to in verse 5. Divine grace can assist us in the work, but grace will not do our work for us. Overcoming is a heart work, a life struggle. God will do great things for us—more than we can conceive; but he will not do for us what he has commanded us to do. Grace will enable us to obey; but it will not remove the obligation or necessity therefor.

And again there are other burdens which we ought to bear alone; these are the burdens of our own wrongs. If we suffer as evil-doers, we have no right to throw the burden on our brethren, on the church, or on the cause of God. But alas! all these have to suffer when the professor of godliness turns aside from the narrow path.

We should suppose that all would be ready and glad to bear the reproaches and persecutions which fall upon the servants of God for righteousness' sake; that they would esteem it a privilege, as Paul did, to suffer for the body of Christ on earth; and that they would instinctively shrink from bearing reproach with them who are reproached for evil-doing. But the reverse is very frequently the case. It often happens that the godly is left to suffer alone for his devotion to the cause of Christ, without an eye to weep for his sorrows, or a heart to pity or sympathize in his afflictions; while he who is chastised for his unfaithfulness to duty, and bears a burden of his own wrong-doing, is the object of pity, and receives the strongest sympathy.

That this is very often the case, we all know. But why is it so? What can be the motives actuating professed Christians to take such distorted views of duty, and to suffer their sympathies to be so perverted?

The reason is found in this: that such professing Christians lose sight of the declarations of the word of God, and estimate things by a worldly standard. "The reproach of Christ" is a commodity of no value in this world; it is avoided by the worldling as something positively injurious; and very many professed followers of Christ are so imbued with the spirit of the world, that they, too, fail to discern its worth. They deal so little in it—it is so slightly interwoven into their religious experience, that they do not recognize it when it is presented before them. They move with the world; they love what the world loves, and despise what the world despises. But let them know that if they do not repent and turn away their hearts from the world and worldly things, they will sink and perish in the world's destruction.

Such professors, having wandered far from Christ; having lost their affection for his cross; the spirit of sacrifice and self-denial having died out of their hearts, they are blinded to the claims of moral worth, and see no beauty in the pure principles of Heaven. Their feelings and sympathies readily blend and harmonize with selfishness and worldly-mindedness. There they find their level. And if, as Paul says, when one member suffers all the members of the body suffer, we are almost compelled to believe that these are no longer members of the body of Christ, they seem so perfectly indifferent and unfeeling while his chosen ones are suffering for his cause and name's sake. They love their ease. The world is so filled with iniquity that there is but little reproach attached to sin; and that is so easy to bear, they choose it instead of the reproach of Christ.

We may therefore set it down as a truth that the direction of a person's sympathies is one sure indication of his standing as a Christian. And it becomes every one of us to watch our sympathies with jealous care, and know that they move in harmony with the Spirit of Christ. When he or his cause suffers in the person of his followers, let us stand by their side; let us bear the reproach with them; let us suffer in their persecutions: let us rejoice at the privilege of bearing their burdens, that so we may fulfill the law of Christ; and though the selfish and carnally-minded may be ashamed of us now, Jesus himself will not be ashamed of us in that day when kings and mighty men will try to hide from his face.

In that day the decisions of the present will be reversed. The honors of this world, its wealth and glory, now so highly prized, will then be worthless. The reproach of sin, now so light, so little cared for, will then be so heavy as to sink its possessor into despair and perdition. The reproach of Christ, now so lightly esteemed, yes, so generally despised, will then prove of infinite worth.

Who, in that day, will regret that they suffered with Christ? Who, in eternal ages, will not rejoice that they were permitted to bear a part in his afflictions? Who would not feel eternally reproved by the wounds he bears, if they should choose the path of selfishness and ease? Let us throw all our feelings and sympathies forward into the Judgment, and try to view things now as we shall view them in eternity. If Jesus has his representatives on earth, let us do to them as we shall wish we had done when we shall be called into his presence. Now we have a little time and opportunity left to "suffer with him." It will soon be past, and the reproach of Christ cease forever. May we so bear the cross as to share the glory which shall follow.