Scripture: Galatians 6:3 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Stephen Ministry has been an important Christian community for me over the past few years in two distinct ways. The first and most obvious community is my fellow ministers who have encouraged, challenged, and prayed with me over so many care receiver issues on a monthly basis.
The second community is more transitional, and develops as I build a relationship with a Care Receiver and her family. Often the Care Receiver or her family members are not Christians, resulting in a potentially awkward community of all concerned people trying to determine the future of my Care Receiver’s life. As the distinctly Christian friend in the mix, I often need to take time to discern God’s will, whereas significant others are eager to hurry into what seems a logical decision that makes their lives easier, if not the Care Receiver’s. Is it always a cohesive community? No. Is it always cozy and comfortable? No. But it’s the community God has placed me in.
God too could have taken an easy way out, allowing us to continue offering burnt offerings for our sins, but He chose instead to sacrifice his own son Jesus Christ who died in our place on the cross. Compared to that sacrifice, my spending an hour or two a week with a friend listening, praying, and discerning God’s voice seems hardly worth mentioning. But that’s my community, and I love that it is not easy. My challenges as a Stephen Minister bring me to the foot of the cross, and His guidance is a blessing to me, and hopefully to my community.
Prayer: Lord, help me be a good listener and friend in the community in which you have placed me. Make me the kind of person that a friend would want to share his/her burdens with: trustworthy, compassionate, patient, and tender hearted. As I contemplate the burdens Jesus took to the cross for me, let me also take on a friend’s burden and willingly sacrifice my time in favor of Your kingdom rather than this world. Amen.