Unwillingness to Suffer

The way of Christ is the way of suffering!  Someone has said, “When God calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  Again and again, Jesus and the apostles state that following the Lord will require us to lay down our life, suffer hardship, and suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness.  Jesus declared in the beatitudes, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great” (Matthew 5:10-12a; cf. Luke 6:22-23).  Instead of suffering being an exception, it is part of our life of Christ.  Instead of it being unusual, it must be considered normal.

The Lord warned, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22; cf. vv. 35-38). He continues, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name” (Matthew 24:9; cf. Mark 13:9-13; Luke 12:51-53; 21:16-19). In His discourse in the upper room, Jesus said that the world would hate His disciples (John 15:18-19) and would persecute them (vv. 20-21).

The early Christians were flogged (Acts 5:40) but continued to rejoice (v. 41) and preach Jesus (v. 42). Stephen was the first martyr for Christ when he was stoned to death, yet he had a forgiving attitude toward his persecutors (Acts 7:57-60).  Later, the apostle James was killed by Herod (Acts 12:1-2) and Peter nearly lost his life (vv. 3-11).  Paul was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19), and both Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and placed in prison (16:22-24).  Paul the apostle details his many sufferings for the sake of Christ in 2 Corinthians 11:23-29.

The apostle notes how we will need to endure tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword (Romans 8:35), and expresses his own response to suffering: “I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake” (2 Corinthians 12:10).  He cites the persecutions and afflictions suffered by certain believers, then said, “You will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering” (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).  He challenges Timothy, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3), and plainly says, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (3:12).  1 Peter 4:12-19 shows the Biblical perspective on persecution and suffering.

With all of this evidence of Christ’s teachings on suffering and the early Christian’s experience of persecution, isn’t it odd that anyone would question whether they will need to endure hardship and suffering for Christ’s sake in our day? Do we think that we are exempt from what was part of discipleship in the early body of Christ through the centuries?  The words from the song, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross” say it well:

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?

Since I must fight if I would reign,
Increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.

Paul said, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  If we refuse to endure tribulations for the sake of Christ, we can’t expect to enter God’s kingdom.  If the kingdom is promised only to those who suffer for Jesus (2 Thessalonians 1:5), do we expect to inherit the kingdom without suffering?  If only the ones who endure suffering will be saved (Matthew 24:9, 13), do we expect to be saved apart from this suffering?

If Jesus said that we must endure persecution for the sake of righteousness to enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:10), why should we expect to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom without a willingness to endure persecution?  If one must “share the sufferings of Christ” to eventually rejoice at the Lord’s return (1 Peter 4:13), why should we expect to be received by the Lord if we shun any suffering for His sake?

Are you willing to be rejected by friends and family and suffer their slander (1 Peter 4:3-5), or do you do all you can to avoid this rejection?  Are you ready to hurt your parents, your brothers and sisters, or your children and even be rejected by them for Christ’s sake (Luke 12:51-53; 21:16-17), or are you unwilling to “rock the boat” by expressing your commitment to Christ and your decision to live fully for Him?

Are you prepared to follow Jesus on the job and do His will, even refusing to sin for your supervisor (Acts 5:29), or do you comfortably fit in with your fellow-workers and do everything that they do?  Are you willing to renounce all worldliness wherever you may be (James 1:27; 4:4), or do you continue your past lifestyle of worldliness just like everyone else around you?

We’ve seen enough to realize that a major element of our life in Christ is to renounce the world and its evil ways, and this will inevitably lead to the world’s rejection.  Jesus said of the world, “It hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil” (John 7:7). Are we willing to testify to the world that they are in sin, thereby facing their wrath and rejection?  If we confess Jesus before others, we will be saved; if we deny Him before others, we will be condemned (Matthew 10:32-33).  Only those who take up the cross of discipleship and suffering will be saved (Mark 8:34; Matthew 10:38).  We definitely sin if we refuse to follow Jesus to the point of death.