“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

When the Bible says to “bear one another’s burdens” it’s not just talking about those around us in church. An almost forgotten aspect of being a believer is the ministry of reconciliation. Jesus came to reconcile the world to Himself. Part of being in union with Him is that we have the privilege of co-laboring with Him in the ministry of reconciliation. But this is the scariest part of ministry. It’s not glamorous. It’s not adventurous. It’s at times painful and difficult. It’s for the mature and those full of wisdom. It’s for those who are surrendered to the point of being willing to take on other’s pain. Not for novices or flighty young kids wanting adventure or a high energy worship experience with lights and fog machines. (BTW being a flighty young kid has nothing to do with chronological age.)

I think the more mature one is the person that can bear the burdens of the less mature. We forget that part of our ministry on the earth is to forgive sin. Or if you will absorb and neutralize that which is not aligned with the mind of Christ. To do that you have to allow yourself to become vulnerable and expose yourself to it without defending yourself. Jesus demonstrated this. But it’s really a hard thing to do and remain sane. The only way you remain sane is to hide yourself under the shelter of His wings. So very few even remotely understand this let alone practice it.

But until we do start to practice this, we will not see the kingdom of God advancing the way we’d like. We will not see “On earth as it is in heaven.” It’s time to grow up into the fulness of Christ. That means doing what He did. Heal the sick and raise the dead? Yes. But also lay down your life for your friends. We want the first part, but not the last part. But we cannot have the first part without the last part. Perhaps this is a reason we do not see more than 5% healed who come for healing. Maybe?