Suffering In UnSilence

There are two extremes when it comes to suffering that seem to be the most commonly observed reactions.  Either someone over dramatizes their "despair" and insists everyone look upon the great injustice that they have been subjected to, or, they stoicly and privately "grin and bear it".  The attention seeker and the hidden pain.

Hurt and pain, in these extremes, exists for personal gratification through attention, or, it is without point and so must be pushed down and hidden because who cares.....

What if neither response is a correct response to the meaning of suffering?

What if suffering is a beautiful purposeful experience that points to a greater hope than even a removal of that suffering??

Colossians 1:24 points suffering in a much different light than we often allow ourselves to believe;

Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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. 

Paul, writing here, does not whine and ask for sympathy, neither does he pretend everything is ok.  Instead he rejoices!  And why does he rejoice?  Because it is in his suffering that he is fulfilling the message of Christ's hope to his readers in brilliant technicolor.  He IS NOT saying that Jesus didn't do enough on the cross, but that in Paul's joyful and hope centered response to suffering he is making tangible what the power of the Gospel is all about.

When suffering is about US, we gravitate to the unhealthy poles of extremism.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that ALL suffering belongs to the finished work on the cross.   Earlier in this letter Paul makes it clear that from Eternity past to Eternity future all things are under the Lordship of Christ.  Even our suffering.  Even our pain.  Even our breath.  Even our death.

Starting with this truth, we see that what we are suffering through is not outside of the control of God, as if He has been rendered powerless and incompetent in the face of great tradgedy.  But that instead this, even this, is working towards a great weight of Glory in Eternity.  

The most powerful testimony to the Goodness of God is not that God lets you win the lottery, or your cancer is healed, or that your children come home, but that your heart can sing with a joy that is not defined by the momentary circumstances of our lives.

Paul understands something that I wish I(and others) would embrace more completely more often.  Offering the Cross to the lost, and freedom to the slave, is not an offer to money, health, and material blessing.  Instead, it is an offer to suffer for the sake of a hope that surpasses suffering.  The Colossians were not going to be encouraged in a lasting way by Paul saying, "look, I started following Christ and my pain in my side went away, my shorter leg grew longer and I found money in my couch".  Surely this would be enticing for a while, but when the brokeness of life caught up with them they would see the lie for what it is.  Paul did not offer quick fixes and temporary blessings, he said, "Look at how I suffer, and how even in my suffering I celebrate the goodness of a God who gave up Himself for my sake".

We often "sell" our church, our beliefs, our faith, on the premise of "look how great it is here!!! look how happy we are!!! look how much better off our lives are now that we are "in"!!!"  Instead, we should follow Paul's example.

To weep with each other.

To face difficulties with each other.

To be honests about our failures and imperfections.

And in the midst of it all point to the Cross that stands over it all and calls us to lie down along still waters!  To be joyful that even our very suffering declares the power of the Hope we have in Christ.

Even when it is good, we can be selfishly angry about it....

Do Politics Trump the Gospel?

Being an American is pretty great.  Beyond even language barriers I can't think of another country I would want to call my home.  And with that I have to say I like things "mostly" the way they are and have some strong opinions on ways we can improve things.

By improve things I mainly mean, "Make my life continually more and more comfortable".

One of the best parts about being a parent is that I get the daily conviction of my own sinful inclinations on full display visibly manifested in the lives of my kids.  I don't mean they are these terrible kids, but that the absurdity of children and their self-centered thought processess point to the  reality of my more subtle, yet still absurd, self-centeredness.

This morning.....wayyyyy toooo early.....my daughter woke me up and asked if she could watch something.  Like a loving father I replied, "Sure hunny, go downstairs and I will be right there......"

Cut to 20 minutes later as I continued to sleep.  "DADDDDDDYYYYYYY why did you forget me?!?!?"

I begrudgingly got up out of bed, annoyed that she was up so early and acting so darn selfishly.  She was inconveniencing me for something stupid.  Life, and especially my kids, needs to be thinking about what I want.

Selfishly her selfishness was annoying me......

Rarely do we see beyond our own nose.  What we want is what we want and we want it when we want it.  Those who get in the way of that are clearly; lazy, selfish, immature, wrong, evil, dangerous, jerks, idiots, etc.

As I came to grips with my own conviction and snuggled my sweetie on the coach while watching Octanauts and waiting for the rest of our family to wake up I thought how silly we "adults" can be sometimes.

And it is reflected in our politics.

Right now the front runner for the Republican Primary, Donald Trump, launched his campaign by promising to build a wall to keep out Mexicans and wants to stop all Middle Eastern Muslims from entering from any border at all.

Let me be clear.  There is an argument that can be made that America can be more economically prosperous and physically safer by following Donald Trumps populist rhetoric.  If we build a wall and stop all immigration there will be more for the rest of us.  Pragmatically speaking we can make a stronger Nation with such policies.

But why do you want to have a stronger America?

Because YOUR life will be better.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to argue that we shouldn't want a healthier economy, or, that we should get rid of all borders.  What I am saying is that what we don't often want to admit is that at the heart of our political grandstanding is a self-centered goal of selfishness.

Where in the Bible are we ever commanded to build a really awesome country that has a high standard of living where there will be low unemployment and physical safety?

Still looking????

Find a passage yet??????


No?

You won't find one.  But you will find plenty of statements about how this is NOT OUR home.  Or, we are supposed to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel.  Or, we must give up everything to follow after Christ.

None of those concepts fit very neatly into a political campaign about making America great again.

One of the concerns with unfettered third world immigration is that the tone and culture of America will be forever changed.  So what?!  Even if we never vote republican ever again what does that have to do with the Gospel?  Some people make a strong case that letting people immigrate won't actually solve any economic problems.  So what?! Even if our immigration policies don't help the immigrants, our citizens, or the countries of origin, what does that have to do with the responsibility of the Gospel.

And to be clear.  What is the Gospel?  That we are sinners, seperated from God.  Jesus has died as your subsitution for the penalty of sin and through  faith in Christ and Christ alone we will be saved. That is it.  That is the work we are supposed to be about.

Ask yourself this.  One day you stand before God and He asks you what you are most proud of.  Is your answer going to be, "I kept the Republican party in power for 50 more years!!"

I hope that for me, and for you, the answer will be, "I declared hope to the captives that Jesus was King"!

If you find the Gospel message aligned with this one, you're reading the Bible wrong