Understanding Suffering

Pastoring today in America has become a challenge beyond what I envisioned it when I started. In this age, what one must do to attract people discourages me. People want new things all the time. They want what the church down the road is doing that is attracting people. They want the gospel packaged in brilliant colors and given to them each week in new, exciting ways. They want celebrity-status people to sing to them and preach to them. And, most of all, they want to hear a message that tells them they will prosper. That might sound acceptable to some.

Here is where the rubber meets the road. Does the pastor tell the unrepentant man or woman who refuses to leave their sinful ways that they will prosper? Does she even tell those who have they will prosper without suffering when the Bible does not give that promise?

If he gives them what they want, then he must remember there are things they don’t want. The people who come don’t want commitment—a commitment to be involved in ministry—a commitment of time or money. They want to be free to spend their time and money how they want to. So, if you pastor these people, you must remember what they want and don’t want.

Today’s pastor who seeks to teach people the Word of God in its context and does not hide its hard-hitting truths will not be popular. If he leads people to Christ and to spiritual maturity and commitment and helps them embrace Christ as the most important thing in their lives, that is true spiritual success. That, however, is the task. He must help them see the world for what it is and choose to stand against its sinful pitfalls. That task is not easy, but it is the task of a pastor. This kind of ministry brings suffering.

Suffering is to the spirit what pain is to the body. Paul Brand, a missionary to the lepers of India, discovered something important while watching a woman trying to flip something akin to a pancake in a hot pan with a utensil. When frustrated with her attempts, she grabbed it and flipped it over. Brand realized the real danger was the nerves in her hands had stopped working. There was no pain to protect her hands. So it is with suffering—it speaks to us about more profound issues in our lives. If we run from suffering, we experience damage to our bodies and spirits.

The Bible has a great deal to say about suffering. From the beginning of the Bible to the end. The scriptures understand humankind to be a suffering race. What God says about suffering in the Scriptures is bewildering to our minds and challenging to accept. Jesus said, “The Christ must suffer” (Luke 24:25-26). Is God not capable of bringing meaning out of our suffering if we are willing to let him show us?