We often lament that it is hard to be a believer in Jesus Christ living in this world. Heck, even the Bible warns us of this:
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
– John 16:33
Here is the thing, though, it is hard for unbelievers too. When believers complain about their suffering, it often sounds identical to what unbelievers face. Should this be the case? We all share similar circumstances, of course, but there should be stark differences in the suffering of these two groups of people. So, what does it mean when there are not? Let us ask ourselves this- is our day to day personal suffering because of the name of Jesus Christ or because we are simply imperfect people living in an imperfect world? I would argue that many believers do not truly know how difficult it is to live the Christian way of life because they are not living it!
Consider the following scenario: a family dons their “Sunday best”, drives to church (with a couple of arguments along the way), walks to the church door with big smiles, offering hugs and churchy catch phrases to their fellow congregants. The kids go off to Sunday school and the parents listen to their Pastor, offering the obligatory “amens” and nodding their heads in agreement at the right times. They sing a few hymns and enjoy some fellowship after the message and then head home feeling encouraged. As soon as they walk in the door, they change clothes, Dad cracks open a beer and puts the game on, Mom goes back to reading her romance novel, and the kids spend the rest of the afternoon playing video games. Life returns to its normal routine (which may even include daily prayer and Bible reading) until next Sunday, when the whole song and dance begins again.
I may not have perfectly described your lifestyle, but I am pretty confident that some of it rings true for each one of us. We have all “played church” at one time or another and may, sadly, even still be doing so. How do we figure out if this is the case? Well, we can always check out our own sanctification. In Part 59 of the series The Lord Is OurConfidence, our Pastor taught that, “Sanctification is a function of obedience”. In Part 58 of the same series he stated, “WE are sanctified when we are gracious towards OTHERS”. So, we see that obedience and love, which we know go hand in hand from John 14:15 among others, are sure signs of sanctification.
Most of us can list the “good” things we do for the church and the people in our lives; however, we all must take a long, honest look at them. We need to ask God to show us the truth about ourselves, specifically our motivation for doing these things. Are we playing religious games and checking off a list of deeds to “look good” or are we serving God and others with a heart motivated by His love? In one of Pastor Ed’s recent blogs, titled False Nobility, he wrote, “We should halt all magician-like misdirection immediately, where we distract others from the ‘dullness’ of our sin with the ‘shininess’ of doing good.”
Sanctification results in righteous deeds, love, and suffering for His name’s sake as a lifestyle, not just on Sundays or when we are around our “church friends”. The Lord described this as “abiding” in God’s love.
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
– John 15:8-10
One more thing to consider- though the Lord is the one who sanctifies, we play a part. We cannot just pray for a changed heart, we must choose to obey.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
– Philippians 2:12
I love what MacArthur’s study notes say about this verse, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling(means) to continually work to bring something to fulfillment or completion… refers to a believer’s responsibility for active pursuit of obedience in the process of sanctification.”
Active pursuit of obedience.
THIS is what actually makes it hard to be a believer in Jesus Christ living in this world. It is the moment by moment active pursuit of obedience, the constant struggle to resist the temptation to sin from both the world and the flesh, and then the resultant pain if we fail to do so. It is the daily battle we should be fighting in order to avoid sin and please our Heavenly Father. THIS is what the Christian way of life should look like, what makes it difficult, and what makes the suffering of believers so incredibly different from that of unbelievers.
”But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
– Galatians 5:16-17
“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
– Romans 7:15, 21-24
In Him,
Monica Ledford
P.S. If we are still breathing, it is not too late to begin living our lives for His glory; it all starts with A Simple Choice.
P.P.S. Another way to assess our own sanctification is to evaluate our level of confidence. In the 80-part series I referenced above, The Lord is Our Confidence, we are taught exactly what that entails.