Carrying the Wrong Weight
This Sunday we talked about Jesus’ promise that his burden is easy and his yoke is light. I remarked how this can be pretty confusing when we look around at Christians in America. We serve a lord who says that his way is easy and light, yet so many Christians are miserable, tired, haggard, burned out. A disconnect exists between what Christ offers and what so many of us are experiencing. What is the deal?
Simply put, the reason that Jesus’ burden doesn’t seem light is that most of us are in fact carrying around a far different yoke. The yoke we carry is instead one we’ve built with our own personal issues, cultural expectations, religious tradition, and a host of other heavy things. We are burned out because we cling to our own mess instead of handing that over to Jesus and replacing our burden with his.
So what does that mean? How do we do better? A few thoughts:
The church must do a better job of thinking about what we ask of people. At The Feast Church we try to balance having a bountiful calendar that offers opportunities for fellowship, service, learning, worship, etc. with the reality that our members only have so much time. We often ask too much of those who serve in our churches and that is heavy.
Personal mental/emotional/psychological health is important. The writer Pete Scazzero has suggested that no amount of spiritual growth can outpace emotional unhealthiness. Many of us carry scars and wounds from families of origin, trauma, and other situations that we need to process. Healing that with the help of a counselor, self reflection, and good mental health practices help us elevate burden.
We need a personal relationship with Jesus. That can sound odd to someone new to faith, but I am saying that each person needs to be personally convinced of the call of God in their life. Christians believe that God works in our lives, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Without learning how to listen to the Spirit, we often end up defaulting to merely what the preacher said last week or what our grandparents taught. Sometimes this can cause us to adopt practices and responsibilities that are not Jesus’ call on our lives, but empty tradition.
Finally, we should meditate more on the sovereignty of God. It is a scary universe if God’s purposes hang by the thread of support that is you living your life perfectly! We convince ourselves that God needs us to accomplish God’s work. That is obviously silly if we truly serve a good, omnipotent God. It can be a good thing to say no to a request or even excuse yourself from a responsibility, if for no other reason then it will prove to you the universe works without you!
Remember, it doesn’t help anything for you to feel guilty about being worn out. That’s counterproductive. Instead, when we feel like following Jesus is a heavy burden to bear, I would encourage us to find ways to lighten the load. Evaluate from where the pressure really is coming. Because Jesus offers a light burden.