Radical Reformation

Continued from Part 1

That’s a far cry from the teaching that we must die again and again, and suffer endlessly, isn’t it? But doesn’t God say that’s precisely what we’re supposed to do? Not exactly.

I am going to start off by paraphrasing Bill Johnson, who said he gets asked, “Well, what about Job?” He responds, “I don’t know. I’m not a disciple of Job’s. I’m a disciple of Jesus. Job was the question. Jesus is the answer.” And so I say, “I”m not a disciple of suffering. I’m a disciple of Jesus. Suffering is the question. Jesus is the answer.”

Yes, the Word says a LOT about suffering… and even that we’re supposed to suffer. But how? Take a look: [search for all forms of "suffer" in NT] What kind of suffering is it? In what context will we suffer? The context is clearly about suffering persecution for being a Christian… from the government, from the religious, from our families, friends, neighbors, unbelievers, fellow believers. And yes – that sort of suffering is going to happen. We should rejoice in it. I will (someday) address the topic of suffering persecution in another post.

That’s not the sort of suffering and pain I’m going to discuss below. The kind of suffering I’m talking about (and, I believe, my friend was saying God wants us to endure) is the effects of sin, sickness, disease, poverty, death, destruction, and so on.

NOWHERE does the Bible say we’re supposed to take whatever comes down the pike and endure it for any reason: not to make us better people, not to show the world how strong God is, not to “partake in the sufferings of Christ”.

Will suffering happen? YES! We will encounter sickness, disease, unexpected bills, storms, sin, destruction, poverty, mayhem. NOWHERE does the Word of God say we should accept and put up with such things. NOWHERE. Rather, Jesus taught us to overcome these things; we are to do what He did, and do even greater works than He did. He set the bar high… and said we would surpass it.

Might God allow these things into our lives to teach us how to overcome? Yes, perhaps. I think that sometimes when bad things happen, it could be Him, poking at us, provoking us to grow. Not to make us suffer… never to make us suffer… but to cause us to become overcomers. To refine us, to transform us into the image of His Son… to teach us to do what He did… to cause us to choose victory in Jesus rather than defeat… to cause us to live out “on earth as it is in heaven”, to cause us to advance the Kingdom of God.

(To be perfectly clear and well-rounded about circumstances, they’re also caused because sometimes we do stuff (free will is a powerful force), sometimes the devil does stuff… and sometimes stuff just happens.)

If we choose to suffer – to grin and bear it – rather than overcome, we are NOT living in the will of God… we are living in direct opposition to it.

The fact that suffering occurs does not mean that we must PUT UP AND SHUT UP. Jesus never did, and He never said that we should tolerate it.

What do you do when you encounter the sick or the brokenhearted? HEAL THEM.
What do you do when you encounter demons? CAST THEM OUT.
What do you do when you encounter a storm? TELL IT “PEACE, BE STILL”.
What do you do when you encounter someone who’s unclean? CLEANSE THEM.
What do you do when you encounter death? RAISE THE DEAD.
What do you do when you encounter hunger? FEED THEM.
What do you do when you encounter sin? FORGIVE and BE FORGIVEN.

Psalm 103 is an astonishing promise from God – The benefits He gives His children include the forgiveness of all of our sins, the healing of all of our diseases, the redeeming of our lives from destruction, crowning us with lovingkindness and tender mercies, the satisfaction of our mouths with good things, our youth renewed like the eagle’s. The Scripture renders these promises as absolutes, and God backs them up with 2 Corinthians 1:20 (YES! AMEN!)

Isaiah 53 makes it clear that Jesus paid for six things – our griefs, our sorrows, transgressions, our iniquities, our peace, and our healing. These are things that He bought and paid for. If He bore our grief and our sickness… why do we cling to it? If He was chastised for our peace, how dare we refuse it, saying, “God is perfecting me through this suffering” …How dare we say to Jesus, “Your suffering wasn’t good enough… I must suffer myself in order to become perfect.” Shouldn’t we instead become perfect through the Son who suffered in our place?

What’s more… how dare we say, “My experience trumps what Your Word says.”

Jesus did not bless a single storm for coming to teach the disciples a lesson. He did not turn away a single sick person saying, “God gave you this sickness to make you a better person.” He never said to the hungry, “Missing a meal will make you grow in God.” The Savior never said to a single person, “You’re beyond redemption.” He busted up every funeral He ever attended. He violated every religious and social norm – eating, drinking, hanging out with whores, tax collectors, lepers, adulterers, the unclean, and all sorts of sinners. He never told any of them that God was going to perfect them by making them suffer… not even for the consequences of their sins. Instead He reached down, lifted them up out of the dirt, and filled them with abundant and everlasting life.

In fact, in every one of those situations, Jesus EXPECTED people to do something. He expected the disciples to calm the storm, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry, to raise the dead, to lead people to redemption…

To say that suffering is a Christian virtue that makes us more Christ-like is wrong. He expects us to overcome with the authority He’s given to us.