suffering

We don't like to suffer.

We don't like to talk about suffering.

We don't want to think as Christ followers we should suffer - it seems we have adopted a very hit, middle class attitude about that - that if we suffer for being Christ followers, we must be doing something wrong.

Uhm... I don't think that kind of thinking will hold up.

Why? Well, because who & what we are in Jesus is antithetical to the rest of the world.

There are so many directions our world is heading, especially in the last few years, that make that reality even more & more stark.

And I'm afraid it's only going to get worse.

We need to be careful in our attempts to be in sync with the rest of the world's thinking...

     ...because much of what the world thinks is completely opposite to what we as followers of Jesus.

We need to be careful as we try to connect to the rest of the world that we try not to sync with the world out of fear...

     ...out of fear that things might get a little rough for us if we say no to certain was of thinking or acting.

Anyway, read some of the things Peter had to say about suffering because we following Jesus.

As I read this, I was juxtaposing it in contrast to the way the world is thinking right now about a lot of things...



1 Peter 4

8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other,

      for love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.


10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.

Use them well to serve one another.

11 Do you have the gift of speaking?

      Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.

Do you have the gift of helping others?

     Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.

Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.


12 Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through,

      as if something strange were happening to you.

13 Instead, be very glad;

        for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering,

        so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.


14 So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian,

      for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people's affairs.

16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian.

       Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

17 For the time has come for judgment,

      and it must begin with God's household.

And if judgment begins with us,

     what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's Good News?

18 And also,

"If the righteous are barely saved,
  what will happen to godless sinners?"


19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God,

      keep on doing what is right,

      and trust your lives to the God who created you,

      for he will never fail you.