by Pastor Jim Kang
If the world would judge Christianity by social media posts by American Christians, what would they say? If some of the Christians from the third-world countries would judge American Christianity by our social media, what would they think? What type of message do American Christians give about Christianity?
I have had several conversations with Christians from various parts of the world, especially, from underdeveloped regions, such as India, continent of Africa, and rural areas of South America. Many of these believers say that Christianity in North America seems to be about personal happiness and success, but rarely about suffering. Judging from what many professing Christians post on social media, it is hard to argue. Myriads of food pictures, selfies, and venerating their favorite evangelical celebrities all say more about the Christian’s idolatry than Christianity. No wonder many non-American believers say American Christianity seems so self-absorbed. I now understand what John Piper means when he says American Christianity is like a Disney ride.
I am convinced that what Christians/churches desperately need today (especially, here in North America) is to understand the inseparable connection between the sovereignty of God and theology of suffering. Perhaps one of the loving things a pastor can do for his congregation is to help disciple and help others to disciple such reality – that because God is sovereign he will use sufferings to treasure him and to enjoy him alone, and that God would be glorified in and through sufferings.
When you read about the life of Joseph in Genesis and come to Genesis 45, you finally get to hear Joseph’s own interpretation of all that he went through up to this point. You get to hear how he saw all the wrongdoings he received (e.g., wrongly imprisoned, false accusations, mistreatment, injustice) from others, including his own brothers!
If there was someone who had legitimate reason to complain, it would have been Joseph. If there was someone who had legitimate reason to retaliate or revenge, it would have been Joseph. Yet he did none of that. Rather, he viewed the whole thing in utterly theocentric ways!
Joseph exemplifies a man who trusts in the sovereignty of God. The narrative does not depict a man who is consumed with himself, how he feels, or how he’s hurt though he’s painfully aware of what he went through. At the end of the day, he realized that God had a bigger plan and purpose. According to Joseph, he suffered in order that others would greatly benefit (vv. 5, 7, 8, 9). And that is theology of suffering!
I’m not sure how many of us think of suffering that way, namely, we suffer so that others would become the beneficiaries!
Yet, this is not a foreign concept in the redemptive history. Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). This is certainly true of the voluntary, sacrificial, and substitutionary death of Jesus. He died so that we would become the beneficiaries. All that to say, theology of suffering is real and relevant. And this doctrine must have a strong grip on God’s people because he promised that his people would suffer.