The Burden of Truth
There is such a thing as the “burden of truth.” Such is not to be confused with the “burden of proof” – which is defined as, “A duty placed upon a civil or criminal defendant to prove or disprove a disputed fact.” There is a similarity, however, between the two. Both are equally tied to a specific responsibility. Both involve a burden, a job that must be accomplished necessitated by the weight of the circumstance. And yet temporary legal matters are not really to be compared with matters of eternal consequence. The existence of divine truth combined with the knowledge of that truth places a monumental burden upon every individual. In the time each person lives on earth, each person has to deal with the truth.
Christians are those who have come to the knowledge of the truth, and that truth has made them free from sin and death by their obedience to the gospel (John 8:31-32; 2 Thess. 2:13). This places them in a new category. They are in a saved state, they have been separated from the world, and now they have a mission to commit that which they have been given to others. While for all people the first part of the burden of truth comes with accepting it and obeying it, an equally important second part of the burden begins when a person becomes a disciple of Christ. They now have something everyone else needs. They now have a responsibility to share it.
One identifying mark of Biblical Christianity is that sincere children of God recognize and feel the need to share what they have. Sadly, there are too many people who claim Jesus who feel no such responsibility. They go from day to day and they are not concerned about the spiritual state of the world. Some “don’t want to get involved.” Some “don’t want to tell anybody what to do.” Others “don’t want to be controversial.” And yet Jesus Christ was and still is the most radical and controversial individual in the history of the universe. What people do with Jesus is going to determine where they will spend eternity. Heaven and hell are set upon a person’s response to Christ.
This is where a Christian feels the burden of truth the most. As a preacher, some days it is hard to get out of bed to a world that is lost in sin and darkness. It is hard to preach for years and watch people stand at the invitation song and look at the ground. Can you imagine how it must have been for our Savior while here on earth, to daily experience the rejection of His own people when all He wanted to do was deliver them? Luke’s gospel presents Jesus on His final entrance into Jerusalem just before His crucifixion, weeping over the city at a distance (Luke 19:41). They would not listen. They would not accept help. They did not want or love or believe in the truth.
The burden also involves the understanding that although everyone is dying from the same disease, you are one of the few who have received the vaccine. What’s more is that you have access to an endless supply of that same, life-saving vaccine, and yet there are people all around you who refuse to allow it to flow within their veins. You know you are slowly watching them die, because the only way the cure can be administered is for each individual to agree to it. This is why every time even one person obeys the gospel there is joy in heaven and in the church. One more person who was certain to die will now have life because they finally allowed for the truth to have its way.
Each day I live here on earth, the burden of the truth reminds me that this world is not my home. Millions are dying without the gospel. This is so hard to take. This reality to me is the saddest thing I can ever know or understand.
I am thankful that, though I am imperfect, the grace of God has been extended to me through the preaching and communication of the Bible. You see, the Bible is the truth. There is no other truth (John 17:17). There is no other way (John 14:6).
Though free from the slavery of sin and death, I now carry on my heart and in my mind and in my life the burden that comes with knowing of God’s eternal plan. And so I press on, imperfectly preaching the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), looking to that day when those who love and obey the gospel will fly away to be forever unburdened, because they have believed and obeyed the truth.
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:3-4
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