Suffering is a word that we do not like in modern day American mainline and independent churches. Suffering brings to mind the plight of the poor in Africa and the third world. Suffering brings to mind wasting away from terrible diseases. Suffering brings to the forefront intense emotions and questions about ultimate reality and the reasons for suffering. The church in modern America has not helped in the way it deals with suffering. From evangelical to fundamentalist to pentacostal to Baptist, we do not like hearing the word "suffering." The problem is that the Bible talks quite a bit on the subject, and not in the way that modern churches in America have taught it. Pastor Matt Chandler, of The Village Church in Dallas Texas, said in a recent interview for Justin Taylor's blog for The Gospel Coalition (http://tiny.cc/ybrgm), "There was no real understanding of what was going on in suffering. The theology most people had been taught was erroneous. They felt lost and confused." The overall context for this comment is that Matt Chandler is a pastor in Texas who last year was diagnosed with anaplastic oligodendroglioma, which is a malignant brain tumor. A year later by God's grace he is still alive, the tumor seems to be in remission, and he seems to be in recovery, but he is still undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. During this time he has been prayed for by many ministers from multiple denominations for healing but so far none has been forthcoming. God for whatever reason which are his own, did not heal him of the tumor. During the process, and even years before the process Matt taught regularly on the topic of suffering because he saw that teaching on the subject has been incorrect and indeed antithetical to what scripture actually teaches on the subject. Reading the above mentioned blog brought to the forefront of my mind things I have been thinking about for years on the subject and how what I was taught did not match up with what scripture taught and what actually plays out in our daily lives in this regard.
This is a major topic and it is impossible in a blog to summarize the mountains of books and commentaries and teaching on this subject. The main point, the one the church needs to be biblical about, then is this: we will suffer in this life. God does not promise to take suffering away, Jesus did not suffer so we would not have to suffer in this life, and scripture makes no claim to a worry free, stress free, or suffering free life for the followers of Jesus. Anyone who teaches otherwise is either selling something, is ignorant, or is both. That is a hard statement, but it is one I'm willing to stand behind. Now if you're reading this your initial reaction might be to say "Well this minster said, or that author wrote God wants us to live in victory because we are champions that are to be always up in a down world, untouched by the ills and pains of this life" or "Hey suffering might come but stay positive God will deliver you out of it." There is a problem with this though and the problem is Jesus and the apostles. Jesus did not live above the pains and suffering of this life. His friend and cousin was beheaded, his family thought he was crazy, religious leaders sought to kill him, a mob tried to throw him off of a cliff, and he was beaten, tortured and crucified. We have two false images of Jesus. The first is that he sort of sailed through life as if he were floating on a cloud, and that he didn't experience pain or hunger. The other false image of Jesus is that he endured all suffering so we would not have to. Jesus was a flesh and bone human being, just as human as he was divine. He sweated, breathed, went to the bathroom, was hungry, tired, sleepy, and at times grieved. Jesus suffered so we would not have to suffer eternally in hell, he suffered so we could be reconciled to God, he suffered so that we could be justified and righteous in the sight of God, not so we could live a suffering free lifestyle of ease. The beauty of what Jesus did is that we have a God that bleeds and suffers with us. We have a God that loved us so much that he entered into our world and bled with us, suffered with us, and died like us. If we believe in his name we will rise like he did and when this happens then every tear will be wiped away and every pain will be healed. Not now then but soon.
Do not misunderstand me I am not saying that God does not heal. I am not saying that God does not care or that God will not intervene and that somehow our suffering does not affect him. God is good, just, loving, compassionate, abounding in mercy, and rich in grace. He cares deeply for us and as a result of that through Christ he suffers with us. The apostle Paul was mightily used of God. The apostle Peter was mightily used of God. Both died as martyrs. Peter was crucified upside down, and Paul was most likely beheaded. Peter was miraculously freed from prison but he was not delivered from being whipped. Paul escaped a city by being lowered in a basket but he was stoned, whipped, shipwrecked, hungry, in pain, and attacked by a messenger of Satan. Paul suffered greatly. The thing is though Paul had an incredible attitude towards it. He called his suffering light, temporary afflictions. Why? Because he saw that all of his suffering, all of his work, was eternal and was working out an eternal reward not only in him but for the people that came to Jesus through his ministry. God does not afflict but he will use affliction to work his purposes in us. God does not make us sick but he will use sickness to work something in us or through us. God does not hurt us to teach us a lesson but he will use those hurts to highlight that we are utterly reliant on his strength and grace and like Paul we can say in the midst of pain, "Your grace is sufficient for me."
My church background focused so much on material blessings that we expected God to heal everyone and to grant all our requests so we threw out the fact that God, who is not the author of suffering, will use our suffering for his purposes. C.S. Lewis wrote, "If you're approaching Him (God) not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you're not really approaching him at all." Our problem is that we have seen God as the means to happiness, to prosperity, to riches and when we do not gain those things we hate God or disbelieve in him because we equate what he sometimes gives with who he is. Romans 8:28 (ESV) points out, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purposes." Notice it doesn't say that all things that happen to us are good or that God promises nothing but good, it says that God will work all things together for good. Regardless of our pain, regardless of our suffering, regardless of our pain, God will redeem it and turn our deepest pain into something redemptive and good. Philip Yancey wrote and I agree, "God's goodness does not mean we will not get hurt, not in this fallen world at least. His goodness goes deeper then pleasure and pain, somehow incorporating both."
