Suffer for Christ or for Self?

Suffer for Christ or for Self?
P.Jebaraj

“No Pain, No Gain, No Cross, No Crown”

Suffering by Choice:
The call of the Lord Jesus to His followers, is : “ If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” – Luke 9:23; Matt.- 16:24.
“If anyone desires” - Nothing is compulsory in God’s Kingdom! Accepting Christ in to your heart is a choice given to you – Rev.3:20 – “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door…” John 1:11, 12 – “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him…” Similarly, we have to make a conscious and willful decision to follow the Lord Jesus.
“to come after Me” “Follow Me” – We don’t follow a religious Guru, a Leader or a Book. We follow Jesus Christ, God Who became Man. He is the author and finisher of our faith – Hebrews 12:1.

Causes for Christian Sufferings:
“let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” - Once you decide to follow Christ, carrying the cross is not an option. Suffering is very much part of Christian life. For what causes do we suffer? We suffer for
Christ, His Name – Matt. 5:11; 10:17,18,22; 24:9: Mark 13:9,13; Luke 6:22; 21:12,17
When we identify ourselves as Christians, we will face comments, criticisms, ridicule and other sufferings. A Christian engineer came back after working in a Muslim country. When asked whether he had any problem as a Christian, he said, “I did not have any problem. I was there for one year and even my boss did not know that I am a Christian” ! So, if you want to avoid problems, just do not show your identity before others!?!
Kingdom of God – Luke 18:29,30
We are a ‘Kingdom People’. Of course, our Kingdom is not of this world – John 18:36; 17:16. Therefore our values are different from that of this world. So, the natural world hates us – John 15:19. Do we show the Kingdom Values in our day today lives?
3. Righteousness – Matt.5:10; 1 Peter 2:19
Values of the world are marred in many ways. Corruption is in every rank of the society. Bribe, cheating, robbery, murder for money, addictions, illicit relationships, ‘law’ (?) permitted same sex relationships are those which fill the pages of our news papers and TV. In such a world, we as children of God are expected to walk righteously and teach righteous ways to the society around. When we compromise in these areas, we are in the good books of everybody. But, when we raise our voice against the evil practices of the society, we will face problems. Do we raise our voice in such situation or go in an indifferent way like the priest and the Levite? – Luke 10:31, 32
The Gospel – Matt.13:21; Mark 8:35
“Jesus is one of the ways” and “All roads leads to Rome” are good news for most of the religious people of the world. This is considered as broad mindedness! But, when you say that Jesus is the Way, problem starts. The fact is, there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved, except that of Jesus Christ – Acts 4:12. If we share this real Good News to our class mates, neighbors, colleagues, and relatives, we may lose their friendship and relationships. . That is why many of us do not share the Gospel with others. We have to follow the example of Paul who was not afraid of these problems - 2 Tim 1:8 – 12; 2:9

Wrong Sufferings:
All sufferings a Christian undergoes need not be part of his /her cross. As students, your first and foremost responsibility is to study. If you spend all your time in religious meetings and sending ‘spiritual’ sms and chats and neglect your studies, fail or getting low grades will be the result. You cannot call this as your ‘cross’.
We have to do our job properly and excel in our profession in this competitive world, Joseph, Nehemiah and Daniel were high profile administrative officers in foreign countries. They were excelling in their jobs and were witnesses for the Lord. His colleagues were not able to find any fault in Daniel’s profession – Dan 6:4, 5. If we are slack in our God – given job and use the office time for evangelization, we will lose our promotions and increments. This is not suffering for Christ.
If you don’t eat in time, no discipline in sleep and not caring for your body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, you will get sickness. Unwise spending (parties? credit cards?) will lead to poverty. This is not paying the cost as a disciple. Peter categorically says that we have to suffer as Christians, not for our wrong deeds or getting in to other people’s affairs – 1 Peter 2:19, 20; 4:15.

Attitudes during Christian Sufferings:
Christ said we have to consider the sufferings as blessed and rejoice – Matt 5:10-12; 1 Cor 8:2.
We have to bless those who persecute us – Rom. 12:14 and overcome evil with good – Rom. 12:21.
The Apostles were beaten up for the Gospel. They did not come to the Church, crying that they got beaten up. They rather “rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name” - Acts 5:41, 42; Phil 1:29.

After beaten black and blue and got their feet in the stocks in the prison, Paul and Silas were not complaining why on earth they listened to the ‘Macedonian Call’ and came to Philippi. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” - Acts 16:25. What a time and situation to have your “Praise and Worship” ! Paul says, we are appointed for sufferings - 1 Thes 3:3.

Paul knows full well what is in store for him,”the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me”. He declares, “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” - Acts 20:23, 24. Giving a long list of his sufferings, Paul says his concern for Churches is more than all that – 1 Cor. 11:23-28.

Rewards for Sufferings:
When we suffer with Christ, we will be glorified with Him - Rom 8:17, 18.
We will be more than conquerors – Rom. 8:35-37
We get comforted by God in our sufferings that enable us to comfort others - 2 Cor 1:4-7
By sufferings, the life of Jesus is manifested in our body 1 Cor. 4:8-10
By our “light affliction, we get renewed in the inner man and get “far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” – 1 Cor. 4: 16, 17
Let us not spiritualize the problems we face by our failures, as suffering for Christ. Let us suffer for Christ, Kingdom Values, Righteousness and the Gospel. If so, we will not murmur or complain. We will rejoice and consider it a privilege to suffer for Christ.

P.Jebaraj is Secretary for Church Relations & Social Concerns Departments, UESI, Chennai.