Suffering is the normal, Biblical Christian life
If I ever had to find another church, one of the first questions I would ask the pastor(s) is, what’s your theology of suffering?
This is necessary because many churches don’t have one, other than suffering is bad. Among large swaths of American Christianity, preachers and churches make it a major focus to avoid or escape suffering. This is especially true in the charismatic movement, where many believe that God wants His children to be healthy and prosperous in this life. I also see this when Christians get political; they want power because they’re tired of cultural irrelevance and persecution. They want winning, not losing.
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But in the Bible, we see the opposite. The early church was a suffering church. The entirety of God’s revelation to New Testament Christians — including us today — was given through suffering writers to suffering readers. God chose that difficult period of time to teach us everything we need to know about how to live. The Scriptures prepare us for suffering, not prosperity.
Not only does the Bible teach that God allows His people to suffer, but in a way, it’s His will for us. It’s the way our lives in this world are supposed to be. For genuine Christians, suffering is normal.
Let’s look at some of those Scriptures.
Granted to suffer
The Philippian church — to whom Paul wrote from the chains of incarceration — was a suffering church. Paul exhorted them not to be terrified of the adversaries who were persecuting them (Philippians 1:28). The next verse has one of the most startling statements in the Bible:
29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake …
Suffering has been granted to Christians. By whom? Two parts of that verse give an obvious answer: God. First, it’s on behalf of Christ, for His sake. Second, suffering is granted by Him who also grants belief in Him. God has granted suffering to His church.
Some Christians would certainly think it can’t mean that. God would never cause His children to suffer! It must mean He permits it; He uses it.
We get some insight from the Greek word that is translated granted: charizomai. Its root word is charis, most often translated grace, a free gift. He’s literally saying, suffering for the sake of Christ is a gift from God. It’s the same word used in Romans 8:32 (how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?) and 1 Corinthians 2:12 (that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God). Suffering is just as much a gift as salvation is!
And it’s not the only word Scripture uses to teach this.
Appointed to affliction
Just down the road from Philippi, in the region of Macedonia, was Thessalonica. Persecution was a crisis there, from the first time Paul arrived in Acts 17, when an angry mob “set all the city in an uproar.” That was after he was beaten and imprisoned in Philippi.
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote that they “received the word in much affliction” (1:6), and that they were suffering the same things as their countrymen in Judea (2:14). Paul sent Timothy to encourage the Thessalonians …
… that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. (3:3)
They were appointed to these afflictions. Some versions say destined. The Greek word literally means to set in place. Again, by who else but God? He purposefully arranged and orchestrated the circumstances that included the Thessalonians’ suffering.
Another thing Paul wrote to them was that their afflictions would end at the second coming of Christ; their rest would come “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels” (2 Thessalonians 1:7). That’s when Christians’ suffering will finally be over.
How could this be? Why would God grant suffering and appoint affliction to those whom He has forgiven and adopted?
Peter tells us.
Called to suffering
Like Philippians and 1 Thessalonians, 1 Peter was written to persecuted Christians. The letter discusses suffering at length, and finds meaning and purpose in it. He exhorts in Chapter 2:
12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;
Peter told his readers, don’t think suffering is strange. Don’t think it’s something foreign to the Christian life, like it doesn’t belong. A lot of us are taught that suffering is an abnormal intruder, and that if it does happen, then something else is wrong, like our faith. But for these Christians, suffering was a way of life; they lived and died in it. Peter taught them to expect it.
That verse also illustrates a purpose of suffering. The phrase “fiery trial” refers to a fire of testing and refining. Its purpose is to try us, to test our quality. Earlier in the letter (1:7), Peter wrote that the genuineness of their faith is tested by fire, like gold. Suffering refines us and purifies us, as the Lord says in Isaiah 48:
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
Even more shocking is how Peter says his readers should react to this fiery trial:
13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
Rejoice in sufferings, he says! As James wrote at the beginning of his letter (1:3): “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” And Paul wrote in Romans 5:3, “we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” You have Paul, Peter, and James all writing about the benefits of suffering and trials — beneficial enough to rejoice over.
Peter himself exemplified this in Acts 5, when he and the apostles were beaten for preaching Jesus. Verse 41 says they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
1 Peter 2:13 has another key aspect of suffering: We partake of Christ's sufferings. We are persecuted as He was, which He said we would be (Matthew 24:9, John 15:18-21). We take joy in suffering with Christ, because He is with us. Paul also wrote to the Philippians about the fellowship of His sufferings (3:10) — His meaning Christ’s. When we suffer for Christ, we suffer with Christ. He’s with us in the fire like He was with Daniel’s friends in Babylon (Daniel 3:25).
So then, is it any wonder that suffering is granted to us? A few verses down, Peter writes:
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.
There are many ways we’re called to be like Jesus. Some say we can emulate His anger, as when He overturned tables in the temple. But Peter’s passage lays out specifically how Christ is our example — in His suffering. We’re to endure afflictions, however unjust, without retaliation.
Granted, appointed, called to it.
Tribulations a must
In Acts 14, Paul was apparently stoned to death. He was miraculously revived, but even more stunningly, he went right back to the cities in Galatia where his enemies had attacked him. The believers there were no doubt shaken by what happened, and verse 22 says Paul strengthened the souls of the disciples. What did he say in doing that?
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”
Tribulations are necessary on our journey toward the kingdom of God. They are not optional. We need them, for all the reasons discussed above. If a Christian never suffers in any way, that’s when we should wonder if we’re doing something wrong.
God will grant us anything that drives us to our knees and draws us closer to Him. Does this mean He actively causes suffering for His children? I wouldn’t say that, but when you’re omnipotent and omniscient, then even your permission isn’t just passive. God sees everything, including the future, and has the power to stop anything. Therefore, whatever happens, God has chosen not to stop it. He has ordained it; He’s determined that it will happen, whether good or evil.
And whatever we go through, we have the blessed hope that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
These are things we need to wrestle with, because this is something multitudes of Christians woefully lack. Many preachers and churches try to push how to avoid or end suffering, but the best ones teach us how to endure it. We need to see it as the psalmist did:
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes. (Psalm 119:71)
We need suffering, and we need to accept it. It’s good for us, and God wants the greatest good for us.
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