Text: Colossians 1:24-29
“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.”
It's a regrettable truth that much of Western Christianity has misunderstood the gospel, particularly the aspect of suffering. Instead of embracing the reality of suffering, many have been drawn to a prosperity doctrine that promises personal abundance. However, a thorough reading of the New Testament makes it clear that suffering is an integral part of the Christian journey. It's a reality we must all come to terms with.
Below is an older post from Tim Sherfy, yet timely nonetheless:
I recently heard Francis Chan recounting his experience during a trip to China. Chan took his 15 year old daughter to a meeting of Christians to allow her to experience firsthand what it was like to worship Christ in a country where it is illegal to do so. He himself was to speak to the gathered believers about standing strong in the face of persecution. Rather than encountering a somber, sober group as he had expected, Chan found the assembly to more resemble a fellowship dinner as the people were joyful and happy to be in each other’s presence.
As he began to speak that evening, Pastor Chan said he felt like a fish out of water as he marveled at the spirit of these people. Finally he stopped teaching and simply asked them to share some off their experiences of persecution. The people seemed confused that he thought persecution was an unusual event since the Bible clearly teaches that we will all face persecution for following Christ. When Chan asked them to specifically detail their most recent story of persecution, they did so with laughter and excitement. Then they turned the tables on Chan and asked him to tell them of the persecutions that the American church was facing.
Chan was brutally honest with them; he explained that things were quite different where he lived. Churches meet on nearly every corner, and people leave a particular church for another if the music is too loud or the preaching is too long or the content not to their liking. People actually choose churches based on the quality of their childcare. In fact, attendance numbers ebb and flow depending on the weather be it too hot or perhaps too cold. The Chinese believers laughed at Chan, assuming he was joking with them. After finally convincing them that he was – sadly – quite serious, one of the believers stood up shaking his Bible and asked Francis, “How did they get that from this?” In other words, how did we as Western Christians get our version of Christianity from a Bible that paints such a different picture? Chan could only respond that it was a fair question.[1]
Colossians 1:24 in The Amplified Version makes suffering and its need for Christians clearer: “[Even] now I rejoice in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf. And in my own person I am making up whatever is still lacking and remains to be completed [on our part] of Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the church.”
Foremost, it is essential to know that “these afflictions do not include Christ's vicarious sufferings, which are never denoted by θλίψεις tribulations. That which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ signifies that portion of Christ's ministerial sufferings which was not endured by Him in person, but is endured in the suffering of Christians in all generations in carrying out Christ's work.”[2]
Wuest adds more detail:
"The afflictions of Christ" here do not refer to His expiatory sufferings on the Cross, but to His sufferings endured in His humiliation prior to that event, sufferings for righteousness’ sake, sufferings incurred through exhausting service, heart-sufferings due to the opposition of sinners, sufferings which were the result of persecution; and for two reasons, first, because the atonement was a finished work, and second, because the word for "sufferings" here, thlipsis, is never used of the vicarious sufferings of the Lord Jesus. These sufferings incurred during His earthly ministry, were necessarily curtailed by reason of His limited life on earth, and needed to be continued in His servants if the work of preaching the Word was to be carried on. Thus, all the saints down the ages are partakers of these sufferings when they are faithful to the obligation they have of preaching the Word (emphasis mine)[3]
Now, maybe I can dispense with the questions of ‘why me,’ ‘how come,’ and well-meaning but misplaced challenges from others, ‘What sin have you done that resulted in …’ knowing that as the Lord suffered, so too will His body.
Paul shows why the body of Christ suffers: suffering is for the sake of the church, specifically, the Gentile believers who could now enjoy the riches of the mystery—Christ in them, the hope of glory—and all who will believe!
How many times have I even considered my sufferings to be on behalf of another? And then to rejoice as well!?!
I am sad to say that my focus has stayed much too long in the selfish stage of suffering, nearly always equating it to personal refining. My practice was trying to understand, survive, and then rejoice. Rarely did I ever get to suffering for the sake of others or that I am suffering in Christ’s place, as saints suffered throughout the ages.
However, by His grace, I will need to change.
Now, I humbly ask, “How about you?”
[1] https://evenifiwalkalone.com/2012/03/persecuted-in-america/
[2] Marvin Vincent, Vincent’s Word Studies (Public Domain, 1886).
[3] Kenneth Samuel Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, 3 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1973).