If I falter, Lord, who cares?
I feel sorry for “anonymous.” Seriously, I do. She (or he) doesn’t know what it means to live among God’s family when they are truly living as brothers and sisters in Christ.
What am I talking about?
Well, thank you for asking.
Last Sunday, someone requested that we sing the hymn “Just A Closer Walk With Thee.” According to our song book, the song was written by someone named “Anonymous,” who apparently wrote many songs, poems, sayings, etc.
Anyway, I had not sung that song in a long time, so I was paying close attention to the lyrics. (I don’t know about you, but I tend to zone out when I sing a song that’s very familiar…) Everything was going great, until we got to verse three:
In this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who but Thee my burden shares?
None but Thee, oh Lord, none but Thee.
So, you see, I feel sorry for Anonymous. When anonymous fails, no one cares but Jesus. If Anonymous lived among brothers and sisters in Christ who were truly living as family with one another, she (or he) would find several who not only cared about her failures, but would even willingly help her bear her burdens. They would love her, forgive her, strengthen her, support her, help her heal.
Oh, don’t misunderstand me… it’s true that Jesus always cares, and he alone is able to truly carry those burdens. However, it’s also true that Jesus often works through other believers to show us his love, concern, correction, and even burden-bearing.
But, apparently, Anonymous doesn’t know anything about that. That’s sad.
We are not created (or newly created, for that matter) to live this type of lonely, isolated existence. We are created to have a relationship with God, but we are also created to have a relationship with one another.
And, God-created, God-honoring relationships include caring for one another and sharing one another’s burdens.
So, I decided to rewrite that third verse:
In this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, they care!
You – through them – my burden shares!
All with Thee, oh Lord, all with Thee.
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This is a great example of the so-called “individualism” disease among many churches. They slam home the “personal” relationship with Christ.
If the churchgoers singing this song would understand that Christ IS the people, the “personal” relationship they have with Christ would be plural.
I love the way you changed the verse. I wish more songs were sung as a “they” instead of a “me”.
Swanny
Swanny,
Yes. Individualism affects us all to some extent, I think. I know that God often corrects me when I am focusing on myself. Thanks again for the comment.
-Alan
I wonder how much of the problem results from a willing individualism and how much of it results from other believers simply not caring or taking an interest in the struggles of their brother or sister in Christ.
Dan: Two sides of the same coin.
Dan,
I think the two go together. Individualism (among other things) feeds our lack of concern for others (because we are so concerned with ourselves, our wants, our needs, our opinions, etc.).
Foibled,
Your comment came in just as I was replying to Dan.
-Alan