Inter-Varsity Press

Contents

Introduction

Part One: Suffering and Joy Are Basic to Christianity

1 Two Basic Aspects of Christianity
2 A Forgotten Treasure
3 Bursts of Pleasure
4 Lament
5 Faith and Endurance
6 Surrender
7 Not Gluttons for Punishment
8 A Theological Blind Spot?

Part Two: Suffering Brings Us Nearer to Christ

9 The Fellowship of Suffering
10 Becoming Like Christ
11 Motives Purified
12 Shame and Honour
13 Solidarity with Christ

Part Three: Our Suffering Helps the Church

14 Suffering and Church Growth
15 Demonstrating the Gospel
16 Identifying with People
17 Deepening Our Impact
18 Suffering and Credibility
19 Commitment Begets Commitment
20 Avoid Commitment and Avert Suffering
21 Commitment and the Joyous Life

Part Four: Servants of the Church

22 Ministers and Stewards
23 Servanthood Springs from Grace
24 We Are Rich!
25 The Hope of Glory
26 Jesus: Our Message
27 Disciples Are Made, Not Born
28 Toil in Disciple-making
29 He Gives the Strength

A Concluding Meditation

30 A Paradox of the Christian Life

Introduction

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
(Colossians 1:24–29)


The Bible often describes suffering as an essential aspect of the Christian life. Therefore this should be a theme that appears often in Christian thinking and communication. Yet, with the affluence and technological advancement of the twenty-first century, many have come to regard comfort and convenience as essential human rights. Therefore the biblical message of the essentialness of the cross has become culturally incompatible with the way many think today. The need for more reflection on this subject has become especially acute because some popular Christian teachers say that it is not God’s will for Christians to suffer. Some say that, because Christ bore the curse for us, we should not bear this aspect of the curse –
suffering – any more. That would suggest that there is something seriously wrong in our lives if we suffer.


I have discussed the issue of suffering in most of my books, but I have felt – and many friends have suggested – that I should write an entire book on the topic. I was grateful for the opportunity to give it some concentrated attention because of an invitation by John Piper to speak at the Bethlehem Pastors’ Conference in January–February 2006 on ‘How Must a Pastor Die?’ When Dr Lane Dennis and Al Fisher of Crossway Books knew that I was going to give this series, they suggested I develop those talks into a book. As always, it is a joy to work with the people at Crossway and to benefit again from the editorial expertise of Ted Griffin.

Since the Bethlehem Pastors’ Conference I have spoken on the topic of this book in many places. The most moving experience for me was teaching a group of pastors in Cambodia as part of the ‘Timothy’s All’ programme. Many of them had suffered immensely under the Khmer Rouge during the ‘Killing Fields’ years. It seemed that this material helped them process their experience using biblical categories. The discussion times on that occasion were so intense that we had to reschedule the sessions – one speaker even graciously gave up his session to allow for more time. Strangely, even in Cambodia the teaching that Christians should not suffer at all seems to be growing.

One of the early decisions I made during my preparation for the Bethlehem Conference was to follow the biblical practice of not talking about pain without also talking about the blessings of it. Joy is a commonly mentioned blessing of suffering in the New Testament. The passage that I took as a base from which to work – Colossians 1:24–29 – presents joy and pain together. So the decision was made to study both joy and pain. We will show in this book that something is seriously wrong not when Christians suffer but when they do not have the joy of the Lord.

The Bible knows nothing of the dour calls to the duty of suffering that many associate with the cross. The overwhelming attitude of the Bible regarding pain and suffering in the life of the Christian is positive. Even in the book of Revelation the reality of persecution and martyrdom is constantly coloured by the thought of the heavenly reward for the faithful and punishment for the wicked.

My hope is that this book will help Christians look at suffering as something to be embraced because the sovereign Lord has seen fit to have them endure it. We should not seek suffering but, when it comes, we can look at it through the eyes of faith. Without such an approach to suffering, it will not be possible for us to experience the joy that the Bible describes as an essential aspect of the Christian life. The great American missionary to India E. Stanley Jones describes this attitude well when he says, ‘Don’t bear trouble, use it. Take whatever happens – justice and injustice, pleasure and pain, compliment and criticism – take it up into the purpose of your life and make something out of it. Turn it into testimony.’

Today in the church we have a lot of emphasis on therapy for suffering but insufficient emphasis on a theology of suffering, which must form the basis of all therapy for suffering. Without an adequate theology regarding suffering, Christians avoid the cross and move away from their call, and they are also unnecessarily unhappy when they face pain. I trust that this book will help people look at suffering biblically and by so doing help them to be happy and obedient Christians. It does not deal with all the issues relating to a theology of suffering, especially the issue of why there is suffering in the world. What it does, however, is to attempt to present a practical Christian theology of suffering. I have presented the material in the form of thirty short, biblical meditations so that the book could be used as a month’s devotional guide.

In this our thirtieth-anniversary year, I wish to express my special thanks to God for my wife, Nelun. Because of her love for God she has borne with all the trials that come with being married to a Christian worker with a call that sometimes makes life difficult for her and with weaknesses that clearly call for loads of Christian patience. I also thank her for reading through this manuscript and making many valuable suggestions.