Fighting Hardship

 

Sadly today, in many places, practical Christianity has degenerated into not much more than superficial social interaction between Church members. Thus when someone suffers, their brothers and sisters are hardly willing to do much more than tell them: “I’ll remember you in my prayers.” Of course, they seldom ever remember, so telling one another these words has become a mere religious slang in the Church, or a convenient way to avoid genuinely helping someone out of a difficult situation. Truth be told, there can be so much phoniness in Church, that many people are constantly projecting a false image of themselves. Church can be the theater of ecstatic singing and “fancy” preaching, a concert hall of extreme emotionalism, while amidst the congregation are people who are lonely and suffering in silence while they carry a fake smile on their faces in order to blend in with the apparently jubilant and emotionally charged congregation. 

 

Today, posting advice on Facebook and sharing quotations and videos seems to have become the substitute for the real hard work of helping those in more desperate and difficult situations than ourselves. Not that anything whatsoever is wrong with the judicious use of Facebook, but it is woefully inadequate when we consider that we are told to: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). It is unfortunate, and a pathetic testimony to Christianity that so many of those in better circumstances do not want their comfort level to be disturbed, so they will share a text or a prayer, but do not expect them to dip into their wallets, or to share their home with someone who has lost theirs, or to give a vehicular ride to someone if it’s too far out of their way, or to help someone who has lost her job pay her rent. In other words, performing good deeds for someone else must never go beyond what is just slightly inconvenient for me at the very most. The culture in too many Churches is nothing more than crass materialism disguised in a veneer of spirituality. Entertainment and all sorts of jocular triviality have become the order of the day, and preaching and teaching have become so devoid of Biblical substance and depth that people leave church to spend the rest of the week drowning the emptiness of their lives, or unsuccessfully fighting their trials, by subjecting themselves to a heavy diet of television viewing, internet surfing, and social media interaction. Is Jesus really the treasure and pleasure of our lives, or do we try to superficially rope him into everything to justify our pseudo Christian obsessions?

 

Can you imagine that we are told that there was no poverty in the early Church (Acts 4:34-35)? Why was this so? Was it because most converts were wealthy people? Well, the truth is that many, when they accepted Christ, were disinherited, and joined the Church with hardly more than the clothes on their backs. The reason for no poverty is that those who had, shared with those who did not have. Read the beautiful story in Acts 4 of Barnabas selling property and giving the proceeds to the Church to distribute to those suffering the hardship of being destitute. The brothers and sisters genuinely cared for one another and the modern day cancer of materialism was not pandemic in the early Church. Yes, of course there were those like Ananias and Sapphira who wanted the reputation of being generous and kind and who were willing to lie to acquire the fame, but Church members like them were in the minority so Christianity grew strong in spite of the hardship of persecution (Acts 5:14). When the love of God is really in the heart, there is great enthusiasm for doing good to help others. I have a friend who was once a Hindu and belonged to a family with a prospering business in the community. When she accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior, her brother brutally beat her up for disgracing their family, and she was disowned and thrown out of the family’s home. A Christian family took her in at great cost to themselves and took care of her and paid for her to go to college. Do you remember the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)? Today this sister who was once a Hindu holds a Masters’ Degree and is a Christian missionary in China. Praise God for Christians who follow the example of Jesus.

 

So, dear friends, this sinful world produces the hardships of sickness, unemployment, homelessness, increasing bills that are difficult to pay, dysfunctional families, inadequate wages and salaries, a criminal justice system that can be woefully immoral, and a plethora of other problems that make life difficult. Added to all this are the greater hardships directly connected to being children of Jesus Christ. As a family of believers, our help to suffering brothers and sisters must go beyond talk and Facebook advice. We all have hardships in varying degrees so we must genuinely pray for one another, share the Word with one another, and make sacrifices to help one another. We must be able to spiritually discern those suffering in silence in our midst and get alongside them to loving ease their hardship. Yes, we must use out time, talents, gifts, education, financial resources, professional expertise to bless one another. Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). 

 

Indeed sometimes the trials or difficult circumstances might seem as hard as concrete within which you are encased. At such times it could be torturous to even attempt to comply with the counsel to “not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6), but just to pray and to let our predicament be known to the Lord in order for him to give us peace. When hardship really strikes, even if a Biblical promise can be remembered, the adversity could be so overwhelming that in frantic desperation we might merely proclaim the words of the promise while focusing obsessively on the dynamics and painfulness of the hardship. Are you really able to believe that “all things will work together for good for those who love the Lord” (Romans 8:28) when there is the agony of unrelenting sickness, the terrible torture of financial hardship, and the agonizing temptation to secretly compromise your Christian faith by doing something immoral or unethical to get out of you difficulty? It is really then that the distinction between knowing about Jesus and knowing him personally as your Lord and Savior emerges. If Jesus Christ is merely an appendage to your life rather than the substance and essence of it; if music, sports, contemporary fashions, your job, professional qualifications, family and other social relationships marginalize your relationship with Jesus; then be assured that you will crumble under the really difficult trials. You need blood to cover you and power inside of you to fight hardship -- The blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

In the power of the Holy Spirit believers are to both individually and collectively grapple with hardship, holding on in faith to the promise that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Doing good to one another must become exciting and enjoyable activity. Knowing about Jesus is not sufficient to fight hardship – Something miraculous must have taken place in the inner you. Without the miracle of regeneration we will not be able to bear the exhortation of Peter: “Beloved do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:12-13). Jesus once told a highly respected and educated pastor: “You must be born again” (John 3:7). Have you had this experience? Without it you will not experience joy in the midst of your suffering. To fight hardship Jesus has to be more than a name we frequently pronounce – He has to be the treasure and pleasure of our lives, He has to be everything! EVERYTHING! Next week’s post: “Who says the Pope is Greater than your Pastor?”