“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.
For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” (Colossians 1:24-29 NASB)
Regrettably much of Western Christianity fails to recognize the suffering aspect of the gospel, choosing rather to embrace a prosperity doctrine of personal abundance.
However, a thorough read of the New Testament clearly states that Christians will suffer in a variety of ways as they walk along the Way.
Thus, the first thing in the West we must comprehend is that suffering will be part of our Christian life.
Next we must learn to rejoice in our suffering. Here is where so many struggle. The questions of “why me,” “how come,” and well-meaning but misplaced challenges from others (“what sin have you done that resulted in …?”) takes precedent in our situation—even when nothing had been personally practiced that would displease the Lord. Before one even thinks about rejoicing, their focus is solely on themselves.
It’s what I call the selfishness of suffering.
Once we can get past ourselves and our perceived injustices, we can, in turn, rejoice.
But Paul takes suffering to a whole new level: he is suffering for the sake of the church. More specifically, the Gentile believers who could now enjoy the riches of the mystery—Christ in them, the hope of glory!
How many times have we even considered our sufferings to be on behalf of another? Personally, and I am sad to say, my focus has stayed much too long in the selfish stage of sufferings. Trying to understand, survive, and then rejoice is where I live. Rarely do I ever get to the thought about suffering for the sake of others. However, by His grace that will need to change in me.
Now I humbly ask, “How about you?”
