Why Are We Not Suffering

I have spent a great deal of time over the past days, weeks and even months thinking about the whole idea of suffering. I am coming to believe, more and more, that this is a topic that Christians do not have an appropriate perspective of...especially Christians in America. As I read through God's Word, I find very few, if any, examples of people who go through a life devoted to Christ Jesus and experience a very easy, comfortable, and cushy life, with no suffering or persecution. On the other hand I find example after example of people who suffer through tremendous pain, heartache, and even death for their devotion to Christ. That seems to be a major pattern in Scripture. Are we Christians today experiencing the same things? Do we experience that same pain and heartache and even death because of our claim to Christianity? I don't think so. At least not to the same degree. Yes, we deal with pain such as disease and the deaths of friends and family, which is natural to all people, but are we experiencing any hardship that is the direct result of being a follower of Christ? Not really in this country. We might occasionally have to deal with someone making fun of our beliefs or calling us a name (not to make light of this kind of persecution), but we do not really have to worry about being beaten, jailed, or even killed for our beliefs (though that day may be around the corner). There are believers around the world who truly do know what it means to "share in His suffering". Are we missing something when we do not really experience any persecution in our lives? I think it is a question that is at least worth asking.

Why would God want us to experience suffering on His behalf? In some ways that seems totally contradictory to what we think God should do. God is supposed to be about love and mercy and compassion and grace. How do those things jive with suffering? That is so hard for us to understand. However, God's Word is very clear that God uses suffering to groom us and teach us things like obedience (Hebrews 5:8) and perseverance (Romans 5:3). Can our faith really grow and develop in a lifestyle of comfort and security? Are we really forced to turn to Him and totally depend on Him as our Sustainer? It does not seem very likely to me. I can't help but believe that the Apostle Paul's intimacy with Christ was grown to a whole different level as he was chained in prison, beaten and alone. I can't help but believe that Peter's devotion to Christ was proven to be far greater than my own, when he was hanging upside down on a crucifix because of his bold stand for Jesus. I wonder if I am missing something when I hear stories about believers in places like Vietnam, China, and Iran who know that they will suffer intensely when people find out that they are a Christians. And yet I can sit here and openly write this blog, never thinking of any physical consequence that could come my way because of it. Do I have that kind of faith to stand so strongly for Him? I hope so...but I have never been tested on that level to know. Part of me wants to thank God for protecting me from that, but part of me can't help but wonder if that is just an indication of how weak and infantile my faith in Him is. Had I been jailed or beaten because of my faith in Jesus, I think that my reliance upon, and trust in Jesus, would be far stronger than what they currently are.

Should we be praying for God to send us some suffering? Would that be a prayer that would honor Him? Part of me really thinks it would. I think suffering may be what we need, not only to sift out the phony Christians in our churches, but also to cause our own faith and love for Christ to grow exponentially. Suffering seems to be something that people of the New Testament not only expected, but actually rejoiced over, because it was a sign that they truly were associated with Jesus Christ (Acts 5:41). Much of the church in America today verbalizes an association with Christ. Is our lack of suffering an indication that Christ does not recognize that association, because it is actually just a head knowledge and not a heart knowledge? If we are truly indwelt by Him, we should expect His sufferings to overflow into us (2 Corinthians 1:5). Ultimately that forces us to ask the question, "Do I truly want to be associated with Him?"