Suffering to be like Jesus

July 27th 2008

Hello! Kathryn here! In preparation for our mission trip to Jamaica, Phil Ward asked us to read John Piper’s book, Let the Nations be Glad. We are reading it to get a better understanding of the supremacy of God in missions and to understand the purpose of missions. I’m not quite finished with the book, but it’s been an amazing read so far. It has been a challenge to get through because there is just so much good stuff in it!
I was reading today about the supremacy of God in missions through suffering. Piper notes that “Loss and suffering, joyfully accepted for the kingdom of God, show the supremacy of God’s worth more clearly in the world than all worship and prayer.” But what struck me the most is Piper’s explanation of the phrase “taking up our cross” (Mark 8:34). “To take up a cross and follow Jesus means to join Jesus on the Calvary road with a resolve to suffer and die with him. The cross is not a burden to bear, it is an instrument of pain and execution. It would be like saying, ‘Pick up your electric chair and follow me to the execution room.’ Or ‘Pick up your sword and carry it to the place of beheading.’ Or ‘Pick up this rope and carry it to the gallows.’” When I read this explanation, I was stunned. I had always thought that picking up your cross meant picking up your burdens, but when I read this, I really felt that Piper’s explanation was true. We are to be suffers right along side with Christ. Piper also explains to why we must suffer. “The call to suffer with Christ is not a call to bear our sins the way he bore them but to love the way he loved. We are freed to love as Jesus did because our sins are forgiven. Because he suffered for us, we can suffer like him.”
WOW! I sat in my room after I had read this and pondered Piper’s ideas. For less than a year now, I have felt called to be a missionary. The first part of Piper’s book was so inspiring that I was motivated to go out and save the world for God. But this section of the book made me stop and look at the flip side of the coin. Piper raises a huge warning sign that says, “SUFFERING AHEAD: Do not enter unless you can accept this”. I wondered, ‘Can I, literally, give my life to Christ?’ ‘Am I really willing to suffer, just for him?’ Missions work comes with the awesome and the not-so awesome. Was I willing to suffer for my Lord? Was I willing to suffer and die in the name of Jesus Christ? I decided yes. Or at least, that’s what I wanted to say, but there are still some doubts. I guess I won’t truly know until I face that situation. But hopefully, I will be able to stand up to someone and not forsake my God and King.
So, what does this have to do with Jamaica? We will be going to love on little broken boys and girls, as well as the adults of Jamaica. With God giving us the power, we will be able to be Jesus with skin on, and allowing his everlasting light to shine through us. Now, while I don’t want anyone to die, I do hope that maybe, we have a little suffering on this trip for then we will know we are truly being like Christ and we will have the opportunity to rely more on God’s strength than our own.