“For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 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.”
2 Corinthians 1:5-7 NIVUK
In our Western societies, very few Christians suffer for their belief in Jesus. Those who do are those brave souls who stand up for what they believe is Biblically right and clash with the authorities in the process. But the street preachers here in the UK face the risk of arrest if they so much as touch on the sensitivities of those who believe in anti-God ideologies. Those silently praying outside abortion clinics face arrest for their thoughts. But in all such protests and activities, there is nowhere near the levels of persecution suffered by our brothers and sisters in places like North Korea, China, and Afghanistan. There, Christians face death and injury at the hands of the authorities, much as believers did in the Roman first-century provinces, where there was only one lord allowed, and that was Caesar.
But suffering for Christ is more than persecution, terrible though that is. Paul wrote that he wanted to experience Christ’s sufferings. Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead”. Paul was prepared to lose everything he possessed, as we read in Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ”. What was it that made Paul seem to want to pursue Christ’s sufferings?
“take up your cross, and follow Me”
To the Corinthians, Paul wrote that as their sufferings for their faith in Jesus increased, so would God’s comfort. There seemed to be a belief in those first-century days that Christians had to share in Christ’s sufferings if they wanted to share in His future glory. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Peter wrote, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world” (1 Peter 4:12-13). In fact, Jesus warned HIs disciples of the hard road they were following, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me”” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus also warned us that our fellow unbelievers in society will not like us very much. John 15:18-19, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you”.
We don’t hear many sermons in our churches today about suffering for Christ. I’m sure that if we did, the pews might empty a bit, as the congregants faced the reality of living the life in Jesus. Here in the UK, we might not suffer in the same way as our brothers and sisters do in other parts of the world, but there is still a cost to being a Christian. In the UK, we are labelled as being intolerant or homophobic when we take a stand for Biblical values and ethics. We may be marginalised socially or even experience job discrimination. We might face legal challenges over our beliefs, as some have found in recent years. We find that our beliefs are being restricted in our schools and other public places, even though this country was founded on Christian principles. Often, we are misrepresented in what we believe, as any street evangelist will tell us. In the workplace, and as a young Christian, I was tormented by an atheist who had a habit of quoting verses from the Bible out of context and asking me to justify them, which I struggled to do sometimes. But in all of it, we have the comfort that comes from knowing Christ. Jesus promised never to leave us alone, “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Jesus also said, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
“It is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me“
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We must never forget that we are no longer imprisoned in our old selves, our human bodies. We are new creations, “created to be like God, truly righteous and holy“. From that perspective, and with God’s comfort lavishly poured out upon us, we are overcomers in a world where we will never be destroyed. And one day, we will be in a wonderful place free of any of the troubles that beset us in this life.
Dear Father God. You are the Source of all that we need for life in this world. Thank You for all You have done for us, through Jesus and His death for our sins at Calvary. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 