A call to suffer

Just received the December 2006 Asia Harvest newsletter, it titles "A Biblical View of Persecution', there are a few things in there written by Glenn Penner that I would like to share.

1) Many believers have been falsely taught that following Jesus only brings blessings and happiness.

2) To be called to follow Christ was to receive a call to suffer.
"I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." (Acts 9:16)
"strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," they said. (Acts 14:22)
"so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them." (1Thessalonians 3:3)
"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." (1Peter 2:21)

3) It was this understanding that sacrifice, suffering, and even death were the normal cost of discipleship that fueled the evangelistic efforsts of the first century church.

4) They knew that in order to bring life to others, they must die; to see others experience peace with God, they would have to suffer the violence of the world; to bring the love of God to a dying world, they would have to face the hatred of those whom they were seeking to reach. It is in this context that they described spiritual warfare; not freedom over bad habits or psychological problems, but the brutal reality of witnessing.

5) Yes, there may be fear, but by God's grace it need not control us. Yes, there may be terrible suffering, but suffering is not the worst thing that can happen to the child of God; disobedience to the Father is.

6) We might be justified in saying that from the world's perspective, those who endure persecution are heroic, but from God's perspective they are recipients of grace. Peter stresses that enduring suffering is evidence that God is at work in one's life.

7) There is no glory for the sufferer. No hero worship. No merit for those who are able to endure hardship, no boasting of one's achievements. It is evidence of God's grace. It is all a work of God, from beginning to end.

It makes me feels as small as a pea after I read this. What are all those talks about the heat and filth in Cebu? We might have sacrificed some, but we are far from suffering. We have so much here, though much less in comparison to what most Americans have, we are blessed beyond compare. Or you can say, we are not blessed, because we are not in fact suffering, if you look at it from God's perspective.

However, I also recognize that God does not send every single one of his followers to be a martyr, there are some who, like us, would be training church leaders through teaching. We do have to be ready to say
YES', if God puts us in places that are uncomfortable, where sacrifices are needed, we have to be obedient and pick up our tents and go.