Paul, writing to Timothy, encourages both endurance and hope in the midst of suffering and persecution. Christians are called to work against suffering, but not to live in fear of it. Although persecution may be a threat to the comfort of Christians, it is not a threat to the Gospel. God’s word isn’t chained (even when his people are) and our endurance can help others to experience the saving work of Jesus Christ. This is one reason Christians can hold to hope, and also an exhortation to be more concerned for our Christian witness and for the spread of the Gospel than for our personal comfort.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
I’ve been thinking lately about comfort and suffering—what we might view as opposite ends of life experience. 2020 has presented powerful reminders of suffering in the world: disease, war, injustice, oppression, racism, fires, and floods. Comforts are not experienced by everybody, even within rich countries.
Nobody likes to suffer. I prefer to be comfortable. Even the possibility of suffering can produce fear. One response to that fear is to pursue wealth and power, which can shield us from some forms of suffering. One of the most damaging deceits often put forth in the guise of Christianity is that Christians are promised a life of wealth and comfort, free from suffering. When Christians believe that lie, it is easy both to give in to fear (despite the fact that “do not fear” is one of the most repeated commands in scripture) and to pursue wealth and power.
Paul’s writings should free us from that deceit. In his second letter to Timothy, he repeatedly speaks of the reality of suffering, and the need for endurance, recounting his own experience of suffering for the Gospel. (See also 2 Timothy 3:10-13). Christians are never promised a comfortable life, free from suffering. Not only might we experience suffering from causes common to the world (disease, violence, injustice, natural disasters), but in following Christ we may experience even more suffering. In addition to facing persecution as a result of our faith, Christians are called to enter the suffering of others in imitation of our Savior who came into the world he created and took its suffering upon Himself. Jesus could have shielded himself from pain. He had the right and power to do that. But he gave up that right, humbled himself, and freely accepted suffering.
We too—those who seek to follow Christ—are called not only to endure persecution, but to imitate Christ’s example as we minister to others who suffer, and as we work against the causes of suffering. If we are to be like Jesus, we mustn’t isolate ourselves from suffering.
As difficult as this sounds, however, Paul’s letter suggests two wonderful reasons for hope even in the midst of suffering. The first is that, while suffering may seem like a threat to the comfort of Christians, it is not a threat to the Gospel itself. Paul mentions his own chains—the persecution he endured for the sake of the Gospel—but then points out that “God’s word is not chained.” In other words, the threat of persecution is not a threat to the Gospel itself. Indeed, a second reason for hope is that our suffering and endurance can actually further the Gospel, helping lead others to Christ—as Paul notes, to “salvation. . . with eternal glory.”
Paul’s primary concern is for the furthering of the Gospel. Like Paul, we should be more concerned for our witness than for our comfort: more concerned for the spread of the Gospel than for the avoidance of hardship.
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