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Response
The Bible extensively discusses enduring suffering for Christ’s sake. During the period when the New Testament was composed, Jesus’ followers were frequently marginalized by their own families and communities. The most severe persecution often originated from the religious authorities (Acts 4:1-3). Jesus instructed His disciples, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” « Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. », (Matthew 5:10). He reminded them, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” «If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. », (John 15:18).
Second Timothy 3:12 affirms, “Everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will face persecution.” Similar to ancient times, many present-day Christians have experienced that publicly professing faith in Christ can lead to imprisonment, beatings, torture, or death (Hebrews 11:32-38;2 Corinthians 12:10;Philippians 3:8;Acts 5:40). Often, those of us in free nations recoil at the idea, feeling relatively secure. We acknowledge that thousands endure daily suffering for Christ’s sake and are grateful we are not in their position. But is there only one form of persecution?
Jesus clearly outlined the requirements of following Him: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it forSomeone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:23-25). Our modern understanding of the phrase “take up their cross and follow me” is often inadequate. In Jesus’ day, the cross always symbolized death. When a man carried a cross, he had already been condemned to die on it. Jesus said that, in order to follow Him, one must be willing to die. We will not all die martyrs’ deaths. We will not all be imprisoned, beaten, or tortured for our faith. So what kind of death did Jesus mean?
Paul explains in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” To follow Christ means we die to our way of doing things. We consider our will, our rights, our passions, and our goals to be crucified on the cross with Him. Our right to direct our own lives is dead to us (Philippians 3:7-8). Death involves suffering. The flesh does not want to die. Dying to self is painful and goes against our natural inclination to seek our pleasure. But we cannot follow both Christ and the flesh (Luke 16:13;Matthew 6:24;Romans 8:8). Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” «And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.», (Luke 9:62).
Paul suffered more than most for Jesus’ sake. He said this to the Christians at Philippi: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him” «For unto you it is given on behalf ofChrist, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake; », (Philippians 1:29). The word “granted” here means “shown favor, given freely as a gift.” Paul does not present suffering as a curse, but as a benefit.
Suffering can take many forms. By choosing to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, we are setting ourselves at odds with the world. Galatians 1:10 says, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (NASB). By closely adhering to the teachings of the Bible, we set ourselves up for rejection, mockery, loneliness, or betrayal. Often, the cruelest persecution comes from those who consider themselves spiritual but have defined God according to their own ideas. If we choose to take a stand for righteousness and biblical truth, we ensure that we will be misunderstood, mocked, or worse. We need to keep in mind that no threat of suffering deterred the apostles from preaching Christ. In fact, Paul said that losing everything was worth it “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” «that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; », (Philippians 3:10, NASB). Acts 5:40–41 describes the reaction of the apostles after they received another beating for preaching about Jesus: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”
Suffering in some form is always going to be a part of being a true follower of Christ. Jesus said the path that leads to life is difficult «because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. »
, (Matthew 7:14). Our hardship is also a way of identifying with His suffering in a small way.
Jesus said if we deny Him before men, He will deny us before His Father in heaven (Matthew 10:33; Luke 12:9). There are many subtle ways to deny Christ. If our actions, words, lifestyle, or entertainment choices do not reflect His will, we are denying Christ. If we claim to know Him but live as though we didn’t, we are denying Christ (1 John 3:6-10). Many people choose those forms of denying Christ because they do not want to suffer for Him.
Often our greatest suffering comes from within as we battle for control over a heart that must die to its own will and surrender to Christ’s lordship (Romans 7:15-25). In whatever form suffering comes, we should embrace it as a badge of honor and a privilege that we, like the apostles, have “been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”
