The word suffer, or suffering, is not a pleasant one to our ears. We live in a world and society where the idea of suffering is something that should be avoided or mitigated. Churches and Christians go to great lengths to assuage and care for the suffering(s) of others. Whole ministries and missions are created so that we may fight the oppression of suffering within our world, such as food banks, halfway houses, drug rehabilitation clinics, orphanages, etc. That is not necessarily the type of suffering I would like to address today. Instead, I want to talk about the suffering that comes about by following Jesus. There is the stark and inescapable reality that suffering is often a byproduct of simply being a Christian. This type of experience should not necessarily be met with overjoyed excitement, but it should be acknowledged as a byproduct of our Christian life.
Jesus said these words in the Gospel of John, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Here we see that Jesus is not suggesting that we will face trials and tribulations, he is guaranteeing that this will happen! But he also points out where that tribulation will come from: “the world.” Now, the phrase “the world” that Jesus uses translates from the original Greek to, “government order, world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly.” So, Jesus is not saying that creation as a whole will bring tribulation upon his followers, but that those whose sole focus is upon earthly affairs will bring such trials. Think about it in this way, as Christians we know that our focus should be upon the betterment of our world through the teachings of Jesus Christ. We know that our lives should be a reflection of Christ’s ministry and a beacon to others so that they may be drawn to such light and experience Christ for themselves. We fight the challenge of trying to exemplify Christ in our lives while also being very human and flawed. This is the burden that we carry with the help of Jesus, but that is not necessarily suffering, it is more of a privilege to share that struggle with our Savior. I would propose a hard truth, that if one person, church, or community is truly living a life that is guided and blessed by God, then tribulation, trial, and suffering will be one of the obstacles they must face. However, it will not stop the growth of disciples and Christ’s ministry, because God’s plan can never be thwarted by the way of the world.
Truthfully, the suffering of Christians for their faith is a byproduct of righteous living amongst powers and authorities that cannot or will not accept, or understand such allegiance. We can assume that to live as Christ lived, i.e. with universal love and grace, alongside adherence to God’s Word, we will inevitably come into confl ict with the powers of this world. The ways of “earthly affairs” can only see the immediate and instant gratification of the self. To be allegiant to Christ Jesus means to set oneself aside for the sake of one’s neighbor. Those are two completely different approaches to life and the ways of this world will not accept those who seek to submit to Jesus as opposed to the powers and plans of those who perceive themselves as in charge. Thus, the natural result of Holy living is to endure suffering in the name of Jesus Christ.
