That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
Philippians 3:10....."When Jesus calls, 'Come, follow Me,' He does not spare us a Via Delarosa, 'The Way Of Sorrow.' " Mark Buchanan
Of late, I've been writing a lot about suffering, something we all have or will experience to some degree. The death of a spouse, a child, or the failure and collapse of a marriage. The losses of life can devastate us, and we certainly need Him to lead us through such awful times. In these sufferings, He will certainly join us, comfort us, and lead us through, but I think Paul writes of a different, perhaps more intense suffering that Christ calls us to. It is the suffering that comes from simply being a totally devoted follower of Christ.
Here in America, we know little of that. Our nation was founded on biblical principles. While we have never been a "Christian nation," the culture was at best, friendly towards the faith, and at worst, at least tolerant of it. Tolerant of we who call ourselves His people. That is changing, and at a pace few of us are prepared for.
In the last few weeks alone, I have read accounts of men and women who have either been fired from their jobs or forced to resign due to their Christian beliefs. Police officers, teachers, football coaches, small business owners, and a wide spectrum of people have been attacked and have experienced attempts at silencing them simply because they are expressing biblical views that run counter to what the culture deems acceptable and feels must be acceptable to all members of that culture as well. Even when to do so violates the basic belief system of those members. Christian football coach Tony Dungy recently expressed his views on abortion and did so in a very Christlike way. He was attacked and told he needed to apologize. A professional hockey player refused to participate in a pregame ceremony honoring the gay and lesbian community because he believed doing so would compromise his Christian beliefs. He made no hateful statements about it, and in fact, made no statement at all. He just declined to participate. When the media and activists found out, he became their target. The instances of this are growing by the day, and the followers of Christ will be faced with the choice of whether we will join Him in the fellowship of His sufferings over these things, or will we not?
Someone said that Christ was not crucified because of the great works of love and compassion that He carried out in His earthly ministry. He was not killed because of the blind He made to see and the lame He made to walk. He was killed because what He preached, said, and lived, ran against the grain of the religious and secular culture of His day. He did so from a heart of love, but that did not save Him from those who wished to silence Him. They failed to do so, as He continued to speak through all those who believed upon Him and came to believe upon Him. His words and voice will always run counter to the popular culture and that culture will always seek to silence His voice. That is what is happening now, and it is going to get worse. We need to know that. We need to go deeper in Him than ever before if we are going to stand and prevail in the midst of it.
Let me say that I have spent a lifetime in ministry committed to preaching and proclaiming His truth without compromise. Never did I do so from a heart that sought to condemn those I was seeking to bring Christ to. I have ministered to homosexuals, married couples who invited a third person into their sexual intimacy, physically abusive and abused men and women, drug addicts, alcoholics, and former prostitutes, among many others. All were welcomed. All knew they were loved by our fellowship. All knew that while we would never condone or promote their lifestyles, that we would not reject them but offer His transforming life and love to them. I always treated them with His love and dignity towards their lives, but I also always made clear the sinfulness of their choices and the consequences of continuing in them.
I know countless other pastors and believers who have done the same. All of us have paid a price for it. We cannot leave off now, even as the cost of doing so increases. Accusations of being members of a faith based on hate will increase. Hostile opposition, at times violent, is likely to come. We must persevere, and as we do, realize that He walks with us on our Way of Sorrow, because it is also His Way of Sorrow. We have joined Him in the fellowship of His suffering. Unless.....we haven't.
Jesus said He was "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." He offered Himself and His resurrection life to all who would believe upon Him. He never sought to force anyone to come to Him but invited all, regardless of their lifestyle or sin to Himself. He did not compromise His message and did not allow the culture He came for to change it. Neither can or will His church. We, His Body, continue to offer His message of resurrection life. We do not force that message upon anyone, but neither will we be forced to compromise it. Christ paid the ultimate price for it, and if we continue to proclaim it, we will pay a price as well. Perhaps even the ultimate one. It is the Way of Sorrow. Believers in so many areas around the world are walking and have been walking it for some time now. We must be ready to walk it as well. Are we? Are you, and am I?
Blessings,
Pastor O
Pastor O
Blessings,
Pastor O
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