It seems human nature to adapt to surroundings and people and search for the easiest way to be comfortable. My head hurts. Let me take something to get rid of this pain. Homeless people keep asking me for money. I'm going to walk on the opposite side of the street and pretend I don't see them. I had a long day of work and don't want to cook dinner. I'll get some fast food. There are many more examples of this in our daily lives. I just gave a few from my own life. (Well, maybe not the headache one. Not a big fan of taking pills.)
Being more comfortable is all around us. If conflicts with people arise, they can be unfriended with the click of a button, or avoided with silence. Adjust the seat. Add some sugar. Turn on the AC. Turn down the volume. Bigger car. Newer clothes. One more chocolate. Drop an unwanted call. The game is on. My show is on. That one show is on. How can I feel better? What annoyance in my life must I get rid of? Whatever the situation may be, our own comfort probably comes high on our priority list. Selfishness is something I battle all the time. I often ask myself, How can I be comfortable in this situation?
Us on staff have been taking classes where we've been learning a lot about the "ignored scripture" in "white churches" across the country. Forgive me if it seems I'm over generalizing this, but living in an urban neighborhood has opened my eyes to the culture in which I grew up. Last Tuesday, we talked about comfort versus suffering and what the Bible has to say about them. Turns out, God doesn't want you to climb the corporate ladder, make more money, seek comfort. This might sound like I'm saying God doesn't want good things for us. That's true. God says in Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Awesome! This doesn't mean He'll give you what you want, but that when you delight in God, He'll give you desires that are from Him. The importance of your desires will melt away in comparison with God's plans for you.
After learning in class that our involuntary actions towards comfort might, in fact, not be what God wants for us, I watched a Francis Chan sermon titled "Comfort and Suffering." If you'd rather watch the sermon instead of read the rest of this blog post, I won't be offended. Here's the link. He explains it much more eloquently than I ever could. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igtHC5wbfFE (Part 1 of 5)
At the beginning of the sermon, Chan makes it clear that he has no problem if the following week he has nobody in the congregation because of the seriousness and truth of what he was about the preach. He assured the church that this was not one of "Francis's radical sermons" but rather a message from God that he felt many in the church are missing or ignoring. What I love about it is that he shows one passage of scripture from each book of the New Testament that has something to do with suffering and how it is good.
Take a deep breath. I would encourage you to even pray before reading these. Perhaps everything you feel you know about what it means to be a Christian will be challenged. You probably have a strong understanding of how to become a Christian, but what then?
Not exactly the sing-me-to-sleep Jesus I grew up learning about.
Mark 8:34-36 "Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?' "
Is my life a living sacrifice for the sake of the gospel?
Luke 6:22-23 "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets."
People may hate, exclude, insult, and reject me and you may relate.....but is it because of my faith in Jesus?
John 15:18-20 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also."
Have I been persecuted? I usually tend to avoid any opportunity for people to persecute me. I often focus on how I can get people to like me.
Acts 5:40-41 "His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."
Again, rejoicing because they share in Christ's sufferings.
Romans 8:16-18 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
A very powerful if-then statement. We are his children, heirs, if indeed we share in his sufferings.
1 Corinthians 15:19, 30-32 "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men....And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day -- I mean that, brothers -- just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' "
Choosing to endanger themselves. Not my desire as of now.
2 Corinthians 1:5-7 "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort."
Galatians 6:12 "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ."
Jews justifying their fear of suffering.
Ephesians 6:11-12 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
This is a war! If life is easy, maybe the devil doesn't even have to worry about you being ineffective for the sake of Christ, because it's possible you already are.
Philippians 1:29 "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him"
Granted to you, as if a gift. It is a privilege to suffer for him.
Colossians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church."
1 Thessalonians 3:4 "In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know."
Paul, Silas, and Timothy knew ahead of time that they'd be persecuted. Sometimes I know the conflict that will happen so I avoid stepping out in faith.
2 Thessalonians 1:5 "All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering."
1 Timothy 1:18 "Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight"
As Paul too fought the good fight without losing faith, Timothy is encouraged to keep the faith through whatever he might face.
This next one gets me thinking.
2 Timothy 1:8, 2:3, 4:5 "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.....Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.....But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry."
Reputation in the world's eyes does not equal the glory that will be revealed as a result of suffering for the name of Jesus.
Titus 1:10-11 "For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach -- and that for the sake of dishonest gain."
Some church leaders will preach whatever theology allows them to keep in a powerful and comfortable position in society. There's a church in downtown Jacksonville that gets their pastor a brand new car every year. Not the gospel.
Philemon 13 "I would have liked to keep [Onesimus] with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel."
Hebrews 13:12-13 "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore."
"Hey come on! Let's bear the disgrace Jesus bore!" Doesn't exactly get me jumping up and down excited.
James 5:10-11 "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it."
1 Peter 2:19-21, 4:12-13 "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a bearing for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.....Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
2 Peter 2:2-3 "Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."
1 John 3:13, 3:16-18 "Do not be surprised my brothers, if the world hates you......This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
2 John 7 "Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist."
3 John 9-10 "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church."
Jude 8 "In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authorities and slander celestial beings."
Revelation 2:10 "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."
"What you are about to suffer" suggests that there will be suffering. But in the end, when it really matters, the crown of life will be given.
If you've made it all the way down here, thank you for reading. Sometimes I can get long-winded on these blogs. I want to leave you with a video I just watched yesterday. If you've never experienced any kind of injustice or don't exactly know what that looks like, put yourself in one of these kid's shoes in this experiment. I hope you have the courage to click this link.
