Tonight as I perused my Google Reader articles, I read this paragraph below (featured on Zach Neilsen’s blog). A true gut punch: I’m not even worthy to suffer for Christ like this. And if you’d permit me, I’d dare say neither are you. Wow.
Visit rural Uganda and tell me with a straight face that God wants us to experience a life of ease and wealth, that he’s concerned about what kind of car we drive. It’s offensive to contemplate. More offensive to contemplate: say it in the face of the martyrs’ families in Nigeria who don’t even pray that their persecutors would stop, only that they would be able stand when their time comes. We’re not even worthy to suffer for Christ like that.
Any theology that leaves little room for suffering is a suspect theology. If Jesus himself experienced pain, loneliness, frustration, etc., then we should be ready for the same. If the apostles and the early Christians were willing to lay down their lives, certainly we should not expect uninterrupted peace and tranquility.