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by Aaron Felty

I recently read a magazine produced by the denomination in which I serve. Our current president is retiring and is focused on what is important for the future of the denomination. One of his last statements is so profound that I was inspired to write this article. I count it as a Christmas present for you to consider as you dream about what “may be” next year. Essentially, the current president of our denomination said that “vision” inspires but “burden” brings resolve to our best kingdom efforts. 

Wow.

I immediately think of several verses of Scripture, new year’s resolutions, and why we fail to apply the Scriptures consistently and keep those pesky resolutions. In short, I believe it is because we are not burdened as Christ was.

“Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come…” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them…” (Matthew 9:36)
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) 
“Let your yes be yes and your no be no…” (Matthew 5:37)

It seems to me that any person can have a vision for how they would like to see the future. Often times vision is the thing that moves people to action. Vision excites people and creates a level of enthusiasm that would not exist without it. However, vision often is not enough to actually make a difference in the Kingdom, or even here on Earth. The Bible says, in the Old King James version, “Where there is no vision the people perish…” (Proverbs 29:18). The word “perish” in the Hebrew can mean to run wild or wander aimlessly. I think that is a great definition for what happens without vision. 

Some of you reading this blog post are essentially wandering aimlessly through life, with no known purpose and no direction, just putting one foot in front of the other day after day. If that is you, you need to catch what the disciples caught from Jesus!

Vision is what allowed those early disciples to leave their day jobs and follow Christ. They saw in Jesus the return of King David. Initially, I believe they were simply inspired by Jesus, not actually burdened with a resolve to usher in God’s Kingdom on earth. They were not burdened with what burdened Jesus; they were simply hoping Jesus would destroy the Romans and restore the Old Testament temple. It wasn’t until after Jesus ascended to Heaven, and more precisely at Pentecost (Acts 2), that their uncertainty was removed, their vision was clear, and a heavenly burden was downloaded into their hearts and minds. 

The compassion Jesus showed the larger crowds of people, prostitutes, tax collectors, thieves, those who were demon possessed, the sick, widows, and children became the disciples’ burden when the Holy Spirit rested upon them. It was at that point they went from having Godly vision to having a Godly burden. Jesus’ burden to give sight to the blind, heal the sick, make the lame walk again, open mute mouths, and set the captives free became their burden. In some form or fashion, the disciples lived and died having operated at full speed for that purpose (Luke 7:22).

What have you resolved? What burdens you? What causes you to live at full speed for the Kingdom of God? 

Jesus left us with a promise and an outline in John 14:12-14. He said that if we are in a relationship with Him, we will do the things that He did and even greater things (not more magnificent, but more in terms of quantity). The outline is to look at what He did. He had a burden for people who were lost in a variety of ways; they were the least in society, hurt, sick and marginalized. Jesus was filled with compassion and only did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19). So when we see Jesus do something, it is what the Father would do; if the Father had a burden for the least, then we too should have that same burden. How do we get that burden? Do we each have a different burden? How does our uniqueness fit into all of this? 

If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation; the old has gone the new has come. Being “in” Christ means that we have surrendered control of our lives and submitted to His authority. He is the driver! If we have said yes to Jesus, we ought to be burdened with what burdened Him. That is what our “yes” means! If we are not moved to compassion by the marginalized in our world, we probably need to test our faith to evaluate if we are in it! HOW we express compassion will come in many forms, but THAT we express compassion should be evident. We should be burdened by the needs in our midst and do all that we can with the help of the Holy Spirit to meet those needs, just and Jesus did while He was walking here on earth. 

Developing a burden that inspires our best Kingdom effort begins in prayer. We ought to be asking God what is burdening Him in our sphere of influence. Once that becomes clear, ask Him for that same burden and what you ought to do about it. 

In my context, I am burdened by people who are lost, lonely, and needy. For us, “lost” means any person who does not know Jesus or is uncertain of why they were created. “Lonely” means those like moms who are raising kids on their own or immigrants and people living in a culture not familiar to them. “Needy” includes all of us honest enough to share items too big for an individual but not too big for the body of Christ (Matthew 25:31-46). So, our little church seeks to build relationships in the community to find those who fit these three criteria, and then we do all we can to meet their needs and help them do likewise. Occasionally, at the end of our church service, I will ask what needs we have in the congregation. Often, someone will say they have need for transportation or childcare. I then ask who can meet that need and someone always steps up to do so. We want to be a place and a people compassionately burdened for those Christ was also burdened! 

This Christmas and New Year’s, will you commit to compassionately doing what Jesus did? After all, that is why we were created (Romans 8:29): to be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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