Burden of Responsibility
Something has been bothering me. We (Christians) often place too much emphasis on our actions - what we should or shouldn’t be doing. We talk about the consequences of our actions on us or others. We focus so much on what we do. This type of thinking hinges on our idea that we are adults, we need to be responsible for our actions, and we need to do the right thing. It’s not healthy.
It's not Kingdom living.
The Lord has been emphasizing a theme with me the last couple years about what it means to be a child, so we can enter into the kingdom. Since Jesus brought the kingdom when He arrived, we can think of it like this: we become like a child in order to perceive, or participate in, the Kingdom of God, (the reality that our sins are forgiven, relationship is restored with God, and living the way Jesus taught us- giving more than we’re asked, meeting people’s needs, all the things Jesus taught at the Sermon on the Mount, which amounts to extravagant love). The Kingdom of God is eternity. It’s the spiritual realm. It’s where Jesus is. It’s His reality that is now our reality, as the Kingdom of God lives in us, among us.
God has spoken to me directly about this tendency I have (Christians have) to shoulder the Burden of Responsibility. It’s starting to sink in.
When we are kids, we don’t carry the Burden of Responsibility. Our parents do. We don’t worry about what we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, nor how or when the mortgage or light bill gets paid. We are care-free. We come to the table and eat the food that has been prepared for us by our loving parents. When we help mommy in the kitchen, or daddy in the yard, we happily do our best. Good, loving, kind parents don’t point out mistakes that are beyond the capability of their small child. They fix it when their child isn’t looking. They have the power to make good things out of the mistakes.
Parents shoulder the Burden of Responsibility for the results.
For example: the final result of the Christmas tree decorating after the children are in bed, the final result of the barn the kids were helping to build by hammering nails at all angles into the boards, the final result of the cake the child was helping to make by measuring the ingredients but not always getting it quite right, the final result of the laundry or house being cleaned properly. The parents shoulder the Burden of Responsibility for the results.
Likewise, God shoulders the Burden of Responsibility for all the results.
All.
He is so much bigger than we are. So much stronger. Much more loving and kind. Much wiser.
He told me, in the quiet of my journal-writing one day to lay down the Burden of Responsibility. Become like a little kid. Let Him be the Dad. Let Him be in charge of the outcome. The results.
I can listen to the Spirit, do my best in all situations and circumstances, not self-judge my actions, and skip about, fancy-free, knowing that my Dad will work all things for good and work all things to serve His purposes.
God doesn’t need perfection to accomplish His plans. WE want to BE right, DO right, and see (what we would consider) a good outcome. But He is not concerned with the same things we are.
I wish more Christians could lay down the Burden of Responsibility and stop constantly examining themselves, their motives, and their actions and just rest, knowing deep in their knower that God is so much bigger.
I don’t know if you saw this on your kids as they became adults, but I watched my kids move from a place of care-free to full-of-cares. When they became adults, I lost my kids. I can see it on their faces. The burden to pay their bills. The burden to be responsible. The Burden of Responsibility.
I know there is a physical need to be responsible, to a degree. I’m talking about the spiritual reality. If my heart broke as I lost my kids as they became adults (not because I wanted them to stay home, but because I missed who they were before they became responsible), I imagine the depth of how God feels, and why Jesus told us to ‘become like little children’.
At least with my kids, they were moving out of my house and I was no longer providing for their needs. With God, we never move out of His house. He is always our Dad. Always providing for us. Inviting us to the table to eat the food He has prepared for us.
Some other things I’ve been pondering: ‘in Christ’ or ‘in Christ Jesus’ is found over 200 times in the New Testament. “Imitate me as I imitate Christ", is found once.
I am not a reflection of Jesus. However, the more I SEE Jesus, the more I look like Him.
We are told to ‘put on Christ’ several times. He is on us (like the armor), He is in us (like bread/wine).
Our main job is not to copy Jesus. We are already filled with the mind of Christ and filled with the Spirit of God.
I am a living epistle, like Jesus was.
I am the light of the world, like Jesus was.
When we focus on the reality of the Kingdom of God living within us, the Spirit within us, Christ within us, we can’t help but do the things we ought.
We set out minds on the spiritual realm, the Kingdom of God, the things that are above. We don’t focus on the things we can see, the deeds or actions gone awry, the mistakes we made, the poor decisions, the moments we acted from Self. Because we have died! And our life is in God!
We focus on the truth of these things, we lay down the Burden of Responsibility letting God be Sovereign and in charge of all the things (even things we didn’t do well, right, or mistakes we made from the Flesh), and we extravagantly love others, which is our main objective.
When we focus on the truth of these things, we can’t help but extravagantly love others. It is an automatic, default response to the world around us, because we are overflowing with the love of God- gushing like a waterfall during a spring snowmelt.
That’s what’s been on my mind.
I’m curious what your thoughts are.
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