Truths

The magnetic power of shared burdens

Life feels heavy these days. The weighty burden of everyday life seems to be exacerbated by a relentless stream of headlines that range from the fear-inducing (a global pandemic) to the shockingly horrific (videos of racism and murder). How are we to respond?

By Jeff Christopherson

The natural impulse in the face of this unyielding bad news is to cower down and pursue self-preservation. Today’s events have certainly exposed – not caused – our own proclivity toward selfish individualism and isolation. But Scripture leads us away from separation and self-focus.

And we exhort you, brothers and sisters: warn those who are idle, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 (CSB)

While it may seem like everything has changed in the span of a few months, God’s church is sovereignly designed for troubling times.

In First Thessalonians, chapter five, Paul calls the church to a bold faithfulness in light of the certain return of Christ and the assured persecution they will face until then. This passage provides a reminding context that, while it may seem like everything has changed in the span of a few months, that God’s church is sovereignly designed for troubling times. It is in these unsure moments, that his people, then and now, are tempted to hunker down in isolation and fear resembling those without hope and without the gospel.

But that impulse is not the way of Jesus. In the worst of days, Christ calls us into relationships in which we share each other’s burdens.

All of the commands found in verses 14 and 15 are relational in their very orientation. We can’t obey any of them individually. They require human relationships. It’s as if Paul knew that the secret to facing life in a fractured world necessarily involved others.

Read the full story at Christianity Today.

Up Next

Will the world’s largest church survive amid growing hostility and oppression?

Read Now
Editor's note: Stories appearing on NCF's website from third-party contributors are intended for informational purposes only, and we do not endorse or approve the content, services, products, or theological teachings they contain. Any questions or concerns may be directed to the original publisher of such third-party content.

Sign up for our
Saturday 7 email digest

Join close to 50,000 subscribers who receive our email digest of
the week's top stories from ncfgiving.com. We call it Saturday 7.

Read our privacy policy

×