As Christians we often act surprised when the good things we try to do don’t go according to plan. Big or small, it’s annoying to say the least and devastating to some depending on the situation.“He shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away. (Rev 21:1-5).”
OK, this is the end of the story. John is speaking of a new heaven and earth where God reigns unopposed. The problem is that we’re still in the story, living in the old heaven and earth where there is yet plenty of opposition to Christians and the Lordship of Jesus.
Remember the story of Paul in Lystra? He has just been “raked over the coals,” yet in an effort to strengthen the souls of the disciples following him, he encourages them to continue in the faith.
“...and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14: 22)
Look at what Paul had just come up against.
"But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead." (Acts 14:19)
Paul can speak from experience, having been stoned nearly to death, beaten with rods, jailed, shipwrecked, and bitten by a poisonous snake. When he and his companions came into Macedonia, he says;
“...our bodies had no rest but we were afflicted at every turn – fighting without and fear within.” (2 Cor 7:6).
Following Christ is not a cake walk folks. God provides, but he does not necessarily provide comfort and convenience. Simply put if we never experienced resistance, we’d never grow. I ride a bike as many of you know. I am an endurance rider. It’s about going the distance at a steady pace. There are training exercises I do to expose my already sore muscles to a greater resistance in an effort to increase strength. I push against the pedals in a high gear until my muscles burn to the point of failure. I do sprints in the short training runs so I have the strength to go the distance on the long rides. No pain, no gain.
“...count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2)
Like I said, endurance riding is about distance at a steady pace. James is telling us that spiritually, God doubles as our personal trainer by increasing resistance from time to time. Resistance may come from inside our own churches as well as outside. So how do we deal with fellow Christians who being difficult? The Lord gives us a commandment; to love one another as he has loved us. (John 13: 34) Remember, Jesus had just washed the disciples’ feet, and Judas had responded to this act of love by slipping out into the darkness to betray his master.
So metaphorically are we to wash the feet even of those who annoy us, or worse, betray us? This does not mean always agreeing with them or acquiescing to their wishes. But we are to love them, and lay our lives down for them. Granted, this is not a natural response. It is natural for us to love those who love us, agree with us, and think like us. We resist loving those who we dislike. And that’s the point. We are no longer limited to what comes naturally, we must strive to love when it’s difficult as well.
The death and resurrection of Christ has spread God’s supernatural love upon the earth. We have become “sharers in the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), and we know from John that the nature of God is love (1 John 4:8).
It is a very painful experience to love those who don’t like us or may even wish us harm and we resist, yes there’s that word again. Yet, scriptures tell us we are to love one another so that our joy might be full. But that’s not the main reason. The world needs to know that Jesus is different from the many false prophets and phony religions that constantly come and go.
So how will the world know that Jesus is God the Son?
"I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me." (John 17:23)
Good stuff! But what does the world see when it looks upon those who call themselves his disciples? They see division, bitterness, and hypocrisy that eats away at the fabric of faith. Soon all that is left to present to the world as evidence of Jesus’ love are nothing more than filthy rags.
If we are to make a difference, if we are to present the Gospel and be disciples, then we are going to be tested, and we are going to have trials. We are going to have resistance added to our daily lives to increase our strength and our faith. Sometimes it is going to leave us spiritually sore.
"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1: 6-7)
Be Strong,
Bishop Ian
