Do Christians suffer? Should they? J.B. Phillips expressed his surprise that some Christians thought we are guaranteed escape from suffering in this life. He wrote:
“Frankly, I do not know who started the idea that if men serve God and live their lives to please him then he will protect them by special intervention from pain, suffering, misfortune, and the persecution of evil men. We need look no further than the recorded life of Jesus Christ himself to see that even the most perfect human life does not secure such divine protection. It seems to me that a great deal of misunderstanding and mental suffering could be avoided if this erroneous idea were exposed and abandoned. . . . The idea that if a man pleases God then God will especially shield him, belongs to the dim twilight of religion and not to Christianity at all.” (J.B. Phillips, God Our Contemporary)
Questions:
1. When you hear some contemporary preachers virtually guarantee that Christians should not suffer, how do you square their teaching with verses like Phil. 1:29- “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him . . .”?
2. I’ve been reading Chris Tiegreen’s book Why a Suffering World Makes Sense recently. What is one advantage of Christians’ suffering, do you think?
Dr. Larry Dixon
larrydixon.wordpress.com 