I became a Christian in the mid 80’s. Having a Jewish background I had no foundation in the main teachings of Christianity like the Deity of Christ and the Trinity. This was mainly responsible for my odd introduction to the gospel through the “health and wealth” movement. Though the movement is strewn with wacky theology, it is not to say that there was no good teaching. I heard about God’s goodness, His righteousness, and the free offer of salvation, hence my salvation. But despite the wonderful benefit of hearing the gospel, the instruction was often not Biblical and very slanted in perspective (what I call Cotton Candy Christianity). In fact, there was so much emphasis on two main principles (healing and wealth), that I spent the first year of my life as a Christian going through the Bible, underlining Scriptures about healing and riches.
Now the reason I mention this is that, though the Evangelical Church for the most part has rejected this theology as unbiblical, it has been subtly corrupted by its thinking. God has indeed made us vessels of honor to know His goodness and enjoy His tender mercies and loving kindness. The American 20th century church has slowly been affected by the culture of consumerism and quick remedy, and has created within it an expectation of instant gratification. This has led to two main deceptions within the church, one, a belief that there is a lack of faith on the part of those who do not experience this level of spiritual maturity, a mistake the Pharisees made in Jesus day, and two, an intolerance for those who do not live up to “their potential”.
In the first part, Christians are looked down on if they struggle as if their trials were evidences of their lack of spirituality. During Jesus’ day culturally, prosperity and health were viewed as a sign of God’s blessing. Those who were well to do and of sound body were viewed as blessed by God, those who weren’t, were “cursed”. Today though, I would argue that this warped Pharisaical theology has slowly crept into the church’s mindset. Do we not say of God that we are “blessed” if all is well? We have a theology, which, as CS Lewis explains, speaks of God in terms of One who blesses, and does not chasten or try our faith. Lewis says something to the effect of, we don’t want a heavenly Father but a heavenly Grandfather who at the end of every day, looks down and smiles and says, “Everything is alright if everyone had a good time.” We are more interested in avoiding trial and “enjoying the good life”. But is this really “the good life”? Is the good life, avoiding stress, difficulty, and trial, or is the good life about growing in maturity, holiness, and Christ-like-ness? I would argue that what really matters in life is encountering His Presence, learning to trust Him, and holding fast to His promises, all of which require suffering, struggle, and tribulation. As Christians we sometimes are faced with choosing suffering for Love’s sake. Who does the Bible hold up as an example of patience and faith? Is it not Job, the prince of suffering? Who are those exalted in Hebrews 12? Are they not those who, suffered humiliation, shame, and great temptation before being exalted. Look at Christ, Man of Sorrows, King of glory. Did He not suffer to the point of blood shed (and that as a choice) before His glory and exaltation? Brethren, the way of Jesus is the way of the cross and self-denial. He chose to humble Himself, come to earth as a Man, suffer temptation, humiliation, shame, injustice, denial of rights, the cross, the wrath of God, and finally death before His glorification as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Secondly, how do we treat those who at this moment find themselves in trial and suffering? As brothers and sisters, we are called to love our brethren. What exactly does that mean? If we look to Biblical examples, especially in the book of Acts, we can see how they shared their lives with one another, opened their homes to each other and cared for one another in the selling of their goods to provide for one another with the proceeds. Is this a picture of the contemporary American church? I rather think not. We tend to ignore those who are not consistently doing well and shy away from those who have permanent and ongoing difficulties whether financial or health. We neglect our widows, our orphans, the elderly in nursing homes, the infirmed, the handicapped, and treat them as modern day lepers. Maybe, consistent hardship reminds us of our own mortality, a fact we’d like to ignore, but often times, within the church community, we’d rather ignore hardship and pretend it doesn’t exist, at least while we are the ones who are not afflicted. But let’s consider some examples in Scripture. How about the early Hebrew Christians, who chose to suffer with their brethren. Hebrews 10:32 says, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me[h] in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.” Consider Moses who chose to suffer with his brethren, “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in[e] Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Are we willing to suffer for love’s sake as modern day figures in Bible history? Are we willing for the sake of love to be identified with those who “were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a death, and does[a] deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, 11 you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our[b] behalf for the gift granted to us through many”? God has called us to this but are we willing to answer? Answer the phone!!
