Tuesday, May 08, 2012


1830- DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?




This past week I read the 1st letter of Peter [in the New Testament].

I read a chapter a day- and meditated on some key points.

I marked all the verses that dealt with the Christian doctrine on suffering. This teaching- found thru out the bible- has been neglected in much of the modern type Christianity.

Many systems of preaching and belief in our day have developed an idea that because Jesus suffered for us- therefore we need not suffer.

I’m sure some of my readers/friends have in some way been aware [affected?] by this- it’s almost impossible to have not been.

Many of the number one bestselling books [Wal mart] have these themes- most of what you would call ‘TV Evangelists’ teach this type of thing.

And many of the most popular Mega Churches of our day have some form of it within their ranks.

So- in the old style of actually writing out each verse- here we go.

‘For this is thankworthy- if a man for conscience toward God- endure grief- suffering wrongfully’

‘But if you do well and suffer for it- and take it patiently- this is acceptable with God’

‘For even hereunto were ye called- because Christ also suffered for us- leaving us an EXAMPLE that ye should follow his steps’

‘But if ye suffer for righteousness sake- happy are ye’

‘For it is better- if the will of God be so- that ye suffer for well doing rather than evil’

‘For as much then as Christ hath suffered in the flesh- arm yourselves likewise with the same mind’

‘If any man suffer as a Christian- let him not be ashamed- but let him glorify God on this behalf’

‘Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing- as unto a faithful creator’

‘But the God of all grace – who hath Called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus- after that you have suffered a while- make you perfect- stablish- strengthen- settle you’.

Okay- that’s the jist of it.

‘So why John are there so many teachings that leave this out’?

Good question.

Many of the teachers are well meaning people- and they do have one side of the coin.

There are many verses in the bible that do speak about God blessing us- meeting our needs- delivering us out of trouble.

But none of these verses ‘do away’ with the ones I just quoted.

Peter himself said that Christ not only died to bring us back to God [redemption] but he also suffered for us- leaving us an example that we were to follow.

Peter says it’s better to suffer for well doing- then for evil doing.

Yet both are redemptive in nature.

How?

Peter’s most famous suffering recorded in the bible is his very famous denial of Jesus.

The bible says after he did this he wept and was broken.

He went thru pain because of his sin- and even this suffering played a role in shaping the apostle.

Later on- we read in Christian history that when Peter was put to death in Rome- he requested that he be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy to die the same way as his Lord.

Geez- you would think he never got over the guilt.

Yes- the bible is clear on the matter- there are times when we are called to suffer.

We can’t ‘confess’ our way out of it- or ‘create our own world’ out of it.

We can’t rebuke the devil ‘out of it’.

There are simply times when we are called to suffer.

Now- this does not mean we sit around every day and wait for the thing to happen- no- we are commanded by God to take up our Cross daily and to follow him.

But the actual phrase ‘Take up the Cross’ carries with it the idea that there is a price to pay.

Okay- what’s my goal in covering this?

Am I trying to ‘put’ a bad confession on you?

No- but I’m trying to show you that if you are feeling guilty because in your mind things might not have turned out as well as you hoped.

Maybe years ago you started well- had good Christian friends- some who went on to ‘fame’ [Yikes!!]

Others had ‘good’ lives.

And maybe you have questioned God- ‘what did I do wrong- why am I different’.

You’re not!

That’s the point.

One of the verses I left out was Peter saying when you go thru these trials- don’t think it strange- but understand that you have many brothers and sisters in the world who are also experiencing the same pain as you feel right now.

Yeah- that’s the jist of it.

If we hold on to the ideas/teachings- that come to us by well meaning people- encouraging people- I mean who can dis like Joel Osteen!

But we need to balance it out with the Word.

Yes- many of these teachings go by the name ‘Word churches’ or ‘word people’ and I’m glad that they do quote the word.

But the Word also contains all these verses as well.

The Word shows us that there are things we will go thru in life- and we should not be taken by surprise when this happens- God told this to us from the start.

Okay- I was thinking I might throw in a few more things about the writings of Peter- some Non Canonical writings- the Gospel of Peter- and the Revelation of Peter [apocalypse].

Being I just ended a study form a liberal scholar- these writings came up.

They are early Gnostic writings that fall into the category of Pseudopigraphy [writing under the name of another person- note- I rarely use this word because my spell check does not have it- but I wanted you to see it- just beware I might have a letter or 2 off!].

I wanted to cover a few interesting tid bits from them- and to explain why we do not have them in our bibles today.

But I think I'll let that wait for another post.

For today- re-read these verses on your own- if you haven’t read the book of Peter in a while- read it the next few days- look for these key themes.

The other day I mentioned the book of James.

I read it a couple of weeks ago.

I realized that I also mentioned ‘off the cuff’ that James was a leader at the first church we see in the bible- the Jerusalem church.

In Acts 15 we read that Peter, James and John are Pillars of the church.

They were spiritual ‘support beams’ if you will- what they said [and say] is very important.

If you remember- when I mentioned James I shared how he praises the poor- and warns the rich.

Here in Peter we see the biblical doctrine of suffering.

When I get to John [probably will do 1st John] I’ll hit on some key themes as well.

The point being- these key figures- these ‘Pillars’ they seem to be ‘out of touch’ with many of our modern day teachings.

I wonder who’s right?






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