Those who live godly lives will suffer . . .

Microsoft Windows 10 has a news app where I can put in my interests, select media sources, and each day get news from around the world. One of my interests is ‘faith in Jesus’ and because of it, I get news about people in the world who are persecuted for their faith.

At the same time, I live in a country where such persecution is rare. While I’m thankful for that, I also wonder about the surprise most of us have to the abuse and slaughter of our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of this planet. Jesus said these things would happen. So did Paul:

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13)

In other words God’s people should not be shocked that some will suffer in this way. We live in a world that is increasingly godless. People who love and obey the Lord are starting to stand out and are considered targets for abuse.

John wrote about a specific instance concerning Peter and Jesus. Peter had denied Jesus before the crucifixion. However, after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples, He specifically singled out Peter to love and care for His people. After telling Peter that, He said:

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 21:18–19)

Jesus told Peter he would die at the hands of those who hated Him. In a way, this was another test. Prior to Jesus’ death, Peter was fearful for his own life and was tested three times and three times denied knowing Jesus. Now Jesus told him he would die because he believed. Would Peter back away now? Or would he stay?

Peter tried changing the subject. He turned and saw John and said to Jesus: “Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. (John 21:20–24)

Jesus basically told Peter that what happened to John was none of his business. Who lived and died and why was the will of God. Peter was to follow Jesus, not look for inside information about anyone else.

I think of this when I read about Christians being persecuted, even dying for their faith. I don’t know how God is dealing with them or why He did not spare them. I don’t even know how they responded to their fate.

I remember a church history story of a godly man who was burned at the stake. I cannot recall his name but remember that he told his friends if God spared him pain from the fire, he would raise his hands to let them know. Then, as the flames engulfed him, his hands were raised. God took him home without pain.

The will of God is always good. When people die because they believe in Jesus, God is taking them to Himself. How can that be a bad thing? The method may seem awful, but this one story from history tells me that God is in charge of that too. Going from this life to the next may look like torture to us, but to the person who is persecuted it may be as easy as walking through a doorway, with joy and without pain.

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Jesus, persecution is not yet overt and obvious, but Your Word indicates that it could very well become less subtle and more intense. At this point, it is not happening, but should those threats begin, I pray to have Your grace that I might glorify You no matter what happens to me. May loving You be far more important to me than comfort, or than life itself.

Suffering because . . . ?

Watching scenes of looting and chaos in England brings feelings of dismay, even outrage. One image showed a couple with a small child simply trying to go home through a group of masked hooligans raising their fists at the police.

No doubt some of the people suffering because of this anarchy are Christians. While God can protect His people from such things, this may not happen. Throughout church history, suffering even dominates for God says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12–13)

However, not all suffering is because of godliness. Sometimes people hate us because of what we believe, but we can also suffer because we have done something foolish ourselves. The Bible instructs about this contrast and adds another element . . . 

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:12–19)

My devotional for today points out that anyone who chooses suffering has something amiss in their thinking. No healthy Christian ever chooses suffering. Instead, we choose God’s will as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. This is a learned discipline, learned because it takes time to realize that God intends ultimate good for us and that we glorify Him in all situations.

However, we can also suffer because God is using it to change our lives. Accepting and profiting from this requires discipline and humility in my own heart. It also requires discernment when God uses suffering to shape other people, or to draw them to Himself when nothing else seems to do it. I need to realize that I cannot dare interfere with His discipline in the life of another.

For some, this is terribly difficult. Graced with compassion and a desire that others are happy and feel good, some Christians can barely watch the television news, never mind consider that another Christian is “suffering according to God’s will.” Yet as I think of my own struggles with sin and suffering, I realize that God is pleased when His people grasp His way of using suffering to make other saints strong and mature for God.

When I suffer, those who do me the most good never sympathize or pity me. Such a response turns my heart inward to do the same and tempts me to self-pity. Even Jesus rebuked this attitude. When He explained to His disciples that He would suffer and die, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’”

Anyone might think this is an encouraging word, but Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”(Matthew 16:22–23)

Most of the time, I have no idea what God is doing. It seems that He wastes lives and puts people into situations that waste time and resources also. I have my ideas of what is valuable and useful, but God puts His people where we will glorify Him. I cannot judge where that is.

Further, to do so may lead me to cast a judgment on God’s character. When that happens, God never answers back or vindicates Himself, so I could blindly and ignorantly hold to the idea that I know more about Him than I do. Jesus did not need sympathy in His earthly life. He refused sympathy from Peter because He knew that Peter nor anyone else understood what He was doing. He took sympathy only from His Father and from the angels who ministered to Him. Both Jesus and Peter instruct me.

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Father, because You have shown me this and taught me to value Your purposes in suffering, I’m not always sympathetic when others suffer, even when I need to be. Give me the discernment to know when to empathize and when to encourage suffering people to look away from themselves toward You. Teach me the right time and way to show mercy — and the right time and way to not interfere with Your dealings in others as they experience difficult times.

Outside the Camp

Last week I had a short visit with an old friend. She once loved Jesus with all her heart and was determined to follow Him. However, she has changed. She told me she was about to do something “bad” and went on to describe her far-from-biblical plan. The bottom line was that the world’s way of doing things had more appeal to her than following the way of Jesus.

Even though Jesus Christ ate and drank with sinners, He was separate from the world, sanctified, set apart for God and not like us in our sin or temporary desires. He had eternity in mind, but was despised for this, rejected and abused because of His godly perspective and lifestyle.

The Bible challenges me to be like Jesus. It also says that if I live a godly life, separate from the world and dedicated to serving Him and not myself, I will suffer as He did.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13)

This set-apart life is not appealing. For one thing, it can be lonely and for Jesus, it had to be worse than any loneliness I’ll ever experience. His own disciples did not understand Him and near the end of His life, they ran away rather than stick by Him.

The disciples did come back, to their credit. As the above verse says, the alternative is to go from bad to worse. They could have become deceivers, but remained true to His teaching because of their love for Him. I want to be in that number.

On the other hand, those who crucified Him were oblivious to His innocence and did not know what they were doing. They had no idea who He was or what He offered them. Yet even as they put Him to death, they unwittingly fulfilled the foreshadowing of the sacrificial law that pointed to their Messiah.

For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Hebrews 13:11–14)

Just as the sacrificial animals were disposed of outside the city, Jesus died alone and apart from the people He came to save. He was treated as worse than garbage, yet willingly accepted this separation for He knew the real basis for it. He was so pure that they could not bear His presence.

Jesus asks me, based on what He has done, to separate myself from the world (in attitude, not in body). I am not to care about the things that others care about. I am not to be preoccupied with the temporal stuff of this life either. This includes not only sin, but the ordinary activities of life. They are passing away, yet those who do the will of God live forever. My perspective is to be eternal.

However, as I try to do that, I need His grace. This world is a place of ridicule and reproach. Its residents accuse Christians of believing fairy tales, being brainwashed, and having lost our senses. In their minds, we are garbage to be tossed rather than earthen vessels sent from God containing a great treasure for them.

The world cannot understand anyone whose goal is to be like Christ. Everyone else looks out for themselves, builds their own empire, and lives in a kingdom of bigger, better, more. On the other hand, Jesus bids me to consider others more important than myself. I’m charged to build His kingdom without becoming entangled in the affairs of this world.

This means cost-counting, for it is costly. I will be ostracized, lonely, misunderstood and the brunt of ill treatment. 

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Lord, this sounds more like bad news than the good news of the gospel. However, the alternatives are plain. If I do not walk with You, then I will walk with the world. There is no middle. Without You, I will become me-centered (even worse than I am), without concern for others and without concern for eternal matters. I will go from bad to worse, even believing lies and telling them. I will be preoccupied with those things that do not last.

I might be able to slide into that worldly attitude without a lot of protest, but one thing I cannot do is become separated from You. I could not bear it. You were taken outside the camp — therefore I must be taken (or go willingly) outside the camp. You were persecuted — I must stay with You and be persecuted too.

You did all this “for the joy set before” You and I understand that. Yet, by the miracle of Your grace, when I am “outside the camp” with You, Your joy is never something set off in the distance. Instead, You put joy in my heart every moment, even in the moments of greatest need. You amaze me with joy!

The world does not understand this either. They cannot see or know the blessed joy of the Lord, because they do not see or know You. I pray that You will bring those without You from the darkness in this world to the bright and glorious light of being outside the camp with You.

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