Community of Burden

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is quoted as saying, "We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.”  As I've been making my way through Lent this year, this quote has had a deep spiritual connection for me.  Much like Advent, the Lenten season is a time to prepare.  By reflecting on our lives and our walks with Christ, we prepare for the overwhelming realization of His death and resurrection.  When confronting our salvation through Christ, we come face to face with just how much we fall short in light of His grace.  Bonhoeffer's words reveal to me one aspect of our culture that competes for Christ-likeness:  Individualism.

When you observe American culture, it's easy to see that individualism is ingrained in our psyches from many different outlets.  Whether it's media, government, career or even the Church, we are taught from a very early age to look out for "Number One".  The concepts of community virtue and moral obligation have been discredited in our popular culture.  Growing up and into adulthood is too often defined as doing what we "want" to do, rather than what we are "supposed" to do. The problem is, individualism can stand in stark contrast of much of what the Gospel teaches us.


Galatians 6:2 says for us to "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."  As Christ bore the sin of mankind, and in many ways bore our burdens as well, we're called to do the same.  But how are we to do this when so many cultural aspects urge us to do the opposite?  How do we carry others burdens when are so consumed with our own?  After all, Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:3, we should "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.    
As Life Group leaders, the principle of bearing "one another's burdens" is probably one of the most important aspects of for us to remember.  It's significant because when we carry the pain of someone else, it is almost impossible for self-centered interests to creep in.  Think of your group as a tiny representation of the culture around you, and then imagine it functioning in opposite manifestations.  As the above verse reference reminds us, we need to live these principles out for our group to see.  They will emulate you as they grow from an individual perspective of life to a more holistic community view.

Jesus said in John 13:34, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  Just before this, in John 13:1-17, Jesus humbles Himself by washing the disciples' feet.  By the connections in this chapter, we see that loving one another does not only constitute our words and emotions, but our actions as well.  And bearing each others burdens is not only listening to the pain, but feeling it as well.  It encompasses not only sympathy, but empathy, and this can only come through our union with Christ and His Spirit.