Suffering Well
by Christopher Hendrix
Modern technology has done many things for us. It has made us faster in travel, and we can reach places across the ocean within the same day. It has made us more efficient, and we can achieve multiple tasks, even simultaneously, compared to the time it took to do one thing a hundred years ago. It has made us more reachable, and we can get a response from someone in a matter of seconds. It has made us more aware, and we know what’s going on across the world as soon as it happens. It has also made us redefine suffering, and we think going without AC on a summer day is the end of life as we know it. We’ve grown accustomed to comforts and when we go without them, then we claim to suffer.
Watch Pastor Chris Hendrix’s sermon on 1 Peter 4:12-16.
Suffering also continues to be redefined in our modern culture. When someone encounters an argument, phrase, or word that ‘triggers’ them, then they claim suffering. The film industry puts captions on older TV shows that warn people of sensitive material. We have warnings and labels posted on everything, essentially warning us of nothing. Many claim to have injustice done to them, and there seems to be a race to be the greatest victim. Suffering has become a cardinal virtue, and the typical response is to make it as known as possible, blame others, and throw stones. This is why the Bible’s calling in 1 Peter 4:12–13 for Christians to rejoice in suffering is counter-cultural. Instead of claiming victimhood in our suffering, we claim joy.
Paul provides us with a good example of this. His sufferings stemmed from his witness for Christ. In Colossians 1:24, he writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” We get a glimpse of Paul’s sufferings in the Scriptures. He was not naïve, he knew the Christian’s call was to suffer as our Lord has suffered. He also recognized that a minister of the Word will suffer greater, for ministers suffer also for the sake of the church. But then he makes an interesting statement by writing, “…in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Is he saying something is missing from what Christ suffered? Of course not! The sufferings of Christ were completed up to the point when the final drop of the wrath of God was poured out upon Him. Thus, Christ proclaims, “It is finished!” Not that His life is ending, but that the wrath of God is satisfied, which then results in His life ending. Nothing is lacking in Christ’s work.
What is lacking is the body of Christ experiencing our own sufferings as our Lord did. Christ’s body here on Earth, the church made up of all believers for all time, undergo sufferings in this life. Yet, these sufferings aren’t accidents or things we stumble upon. Our sufferings as the church, experienced at the individual level, are brought to us at God’s Sovereign will. 1 Peter 4:12 describes these as tests. Why? Peter answers that the same way Paul did above, for the glory of Christ. Our sufferings aren’t given to us by God to condemn us, to forsake us, or because He takes pleasure in them. Our sufferings are given to us as instruments by which we take pleasure in God, and God takes pleasure in our pleasure. So then, Peter and Paul can both proclaim that amidst sufferings, we rejoice! And this fills up what is lacking in the church. The church is being conformed into the image of Christ. This involves purification of sin, learning to be bold in our witness, and living godly and truthful lives. Suffering refines these things in us. Therefore, we can rejoice in them.
And these sufferings Paul and Peter refer to aren’t the lack of modern conveniences, though we should rejoice in those times as well. They aren’t being a victim of some trigger, though even those are times to forgive and rejoice. They are sufferings that come from living a life of holiness and godliness and the world responding with evil. These are the sufferings we all should be facing as Christians. So then, do you face these sufferings? If not, is it because of weakness and cowardice? Then cry out to God for boldness and strength because of the Gospel. If you do face these kinds of sufferings, do you rejoice in them? Look to the Gospel as the foundation for this joy! As Christians, let us suffer well.
Suffering for Being a Christian
1 Peter 4:12-16
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.