Posted by PS on March 31, 2003 at 17:56:57:
In Reply to: Thinking about 'the body' and 'burdens' posted by j on March 31, 2003 at 13:27:20:
: It seems that the more I study and learn about the mysteries of God, the more questions I find. Although I am all too familiar with this fact, I still seek knowledge and answers. It seems that this particular paradox works for me in my life.
: There are a couple concepts that have come up in my studies (and in PU meetings) that have me asking questions...
: - What can I do to act as part of 'the body'? The most obvious answer is to pray, but as I read through Romans 12, there are many gifts that Paul mentions (teaching, prophecy, giving, exhortation, etc.) that I imagine are specifics, but also examples. In other words, there are many things I can do (I assume) that don't fit these descriptions... right?
I would certainly agree. Some gifts/callings fit more than one of the various biblical descriptions, and some could easily inspire the articulation of new definitions. To the understanding that gifts overlap and often span various categories, we must also consider the distinctions regarding gifts more temporal in nature and gifts more integral to one's essential identity. Here is another topic we surely need to engage. :-)
: - What is a 'burden'? This is a phrase that I have heard use, and I have used myself many times. However, I don't know if I really know what it means. Maybe the definition I use for 'burden' is actually something else... Any thoughts?
The word "burden" can be defined a number of ways. We do NOT mean it as an imposed, disagreeable, and oppressive load one is forced to carry against their will. This may well be the first meaning coming to mind, but again, is not what we mean. We need to discuss this at PU in some depth, I think, as I don't have time to do it justice here.
Suffice to say that a God-given burden is a privilege, and must be received as such. It is a precious gift, an honor undeserved, a power divinely ordained, which makes one a direct participant in the will of God for another person, according to God's pleasure and purpose.
Or, described more in terms of recognizing burdens as "ministry gifts:"
The wisdom and power given by God to affect another in a particular situation is accompanied and evidenced by a "burden"--a sincere, fervent desire for the good of another so ubiquitous and pervasive that it cannot be ignored, so crucial and urgent that it must be acted upon, so fused in my own being that I feel the distress or need of the other, so clearly a gift of the heart of God that I embrace it and count it an honor, and so clearly representative of the purpose of God that I judge it in itself a sufficient reason for my whole existence. The weight of this burden I not only choose to bear, but I LONG to bear. The absence of such burden for others is an absence of purpose, meaning, eternal significance, and identity in God. It is the absence of the power and experienced Presence of God in one's life.
Let's talk more about this at PU. :-)