Should We Seek to Suffer?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Well, happy Friday and welcome back to the podcast.
00:00:07.080 | I hope your Thanksgiving was full.
00:00:08.920 | I hope it was wonderful.
00:00:10.100 | And we end this holiday week on the podcast
00:00:13.500 | with an email from a young man named Peyton.
00:00:16.780 | Peyton writes this, "Pastor John, hello.
00:00:18.780 | "Thank you for your look at the book video series.
00:00:21.020 | "I used them to prepare a recent lesson I taught
00:00:23.900 | "on 1 Peter 3, verses 8 to 22.
00:00:27.640 | "Later on, I found your exegesis of 1 Peter 4, 15
00:00:31.320 | "very helpful to understand the role of suffering
00:00:33.840 | "in the Christian life.
00:00:35.660 | "One of your four conclusions was this,
00:00:37.960 | "don't prioritize the value of suffering
00:00:40.400 | "above the value of doing good.
00:00:44.380 | "I think that's a relevant word in this age
00:00:47.060 | "when getting hated or deleted online
00:00:49.120 | "is a badge of accomplishment.
00:00:51.020 | "You draw out a powerful application
00:00:53.400 | "from this text as for why,
00:00:55.760 | "but I'm failing to connect this point of application
00:00:59.400 | "to the text itself.
00:01:01.720 | "Can you elaborate on what you mean by this connection
00:01:04.000 | "and how Peter is conveying this message to his readers?
00:01:07.800 | "Also, how might we apply this in our daily walk
00:01:11.400 | "as we battle against unjust suffering?
00:01:15.760 | "Thank you."
00:01:17.400 | - Okay, let's get everybody up to speed.
00:01:19.600 | Here's the context of 1 Peter 4, 13 to 16.
00:01:25.400 | Rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings
00:01:30.100 | that you may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
00:01:33.680 | If you are insulted for the name of Christ,
00:01:37.120 | you're blessed because the spirit of glory
00:01:40.160 | and of God rests upon you.
00:01:42.060 | But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief
00:01:47.060 | or an evildoer or as a meddler.
00:01:51.520 | Yet, if anyone suffers as a Christian,
00:01:54.960 | let him not be ashamed,
00:01:58.000 | but let him glorify God in that name.
00:02:01.040 | What arrested my attention in that text
00:02:06.120 | that Peyton is referring to
00:02:08.720 | is how obvious it is that we ought not to suffer
00:02:13.520 | as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or a meddler.
00:02:18.520 | In fact, it seems so obvious that you wonder
00:02:23.000 | why did Peter feel the need to write,
00:02:26.760 | "Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief
00:02:31.280 | "or an evildoer or a meddler."
00:02:33.600 | He certainly did not mean it's okay if you murder
00:02:38.240 | and steal and do evil and meddle,
00:02:40.040 | just don't get caught and suffer for it.
00:02:41.920 | That's not what he meant.
00:02:44.320 | So why, why did Peter say that?
00:02:49.280 | Why didn't he just say, "Don't murder, don't steal,
00:02:53.720 | "don't do evil, don't meddle,"
00:02:56.960 | instead of saying, "Don't suffer for it."
00:02:59.840 | Well, evidently, because Peter's teaching
00:03:04.840 | on the necessity of suffering in this book
00:03:08.180 | and the value of suffering in this book,
00:03:10.240 | especially in chapter one, where it functions like fire
00:03:13.080 | to burn away the dross out of the gold of our faith,
00:03:16.000 | evidently, some people were saying
00:03:19.400 | that any suffering is good,
00:03:22.720 | even if it's suffering for doing bad things,
00:03:25.800 | it's good for you.
00:03:27.360 | Now, there are two other texts in 1 Peter
00:03:32.000 | that make me think that, that confirm I'm on the right track
00:03:36.120 | when I guess that might be what's going on here.
00:03:39.640 | For example, in 1 Peter 2, 19, he says,
00:03:44.640 | "This is a gracious thing when mindful of God,
00:03:50.720 | "one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
00:03:55.680 | "For what credit is it if when you sin
00:04:00.680 | "and are beaten for it, you endure?"
00:04:04.400 | Now, why would Peter have to say that?
00:04:08.040 | What credit is it if when you sin
00:04:12.080 | and are beaten for it, you endure?
00:04:13.900 | It sounds like somebody is saying,
00:04:17.480 | "There's some credit in that.
00:04:19.520 | "There's some credit in suffering,
00:04:22.660 | "even if you got beaten because you sinned."
00:04:25.760 | And Peter's saying, "What?
00:04:27.560 | "There's no credit in that."
00:04:30.160 | Or here's another text pointing in the same direction.
00:04:33.440 | 1 Peter 3, 17 says, "It is better to suffer for doing good,"
00:04:38.440 | if that should be God's will, "than for doing evil."
00:04:43.580 | Well, how obvious is that?
00:04:47.020 | Well, maybe not so obvious.
00:04:50.780 | If somebody hears Peter saying,
00:04:53.420 | "It's better to be on the receiving end of injustice
00:04:58.420 | "than to be on the giving end of injustice,"
00:05:02.760 | which is in fact what he's saying,
00:05:05.040 | that might be a little hard for people to swallow.
00:05:08.960 | So I circled back to 1 Peter 4, 15
00:05:13.760 | when I was working on that look at the book session
00:05:16.920 | where it says, "Let none of you suffer as a murderer
00:05:20.480 | "or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler."
00:05:23.120 | And I circled back and drew out four lessons
00:05:27.280 | that Peyton is zeroing in on here.
00:05:30.580 | Here's the first one.
00:05:31.860 | "It is not a matter of indifference
00:05:33.780 | "whether you suffer for doing good
00:05:36.040 | "or suffer for doing evil."
00:05:37.560 | Anyone who says that suffering for evil
00:05:41.020 | does as much good for you as suffering for good
00:05:44.240 | is not paying attention to the apostles' teaching.
00:05:47.140 | That was my first lesson.
00:05:48.800 | Second lesson I drew out was,
00:05:51.200 | "There's no credit, no honor
00:05:53.780 | "that comes from suffering for sin."
00:05:55.820 | Third lesson I drew out,
00:05:58.440 | "Injustice against you is better
00:06:01.260 | "than your doing the injustice."
00:06:03.880 | And the fourth one, and this is the one he was asking about,
00:06:08.020 | don't prioritize the value of suffering
00:06:12.420 | above the value of doing good.
00:06:15.480 | It's that one that Peyton is asking about when he says,
00:06:19.900 | "Can you elaborate on what you mean by this conclusion
00:06:24.600 | "and how Peter is conveying this message to his readers?"
00:06:28.560 | Well, the way Peter is conveying that thought,
00:06:32.520 | don't prioritize the value of suffering
00:06:35.380 | above the value of doing good,
00:06:38.200 | the way he conveys that is that the imperatives
00:06:42.920 | running right through this entire letter
00:06:47.360 | are do good, love, be holy.
00:06:52.280 | 115, 122, 215, 36, 311, et cetera.
00:06:57.280 | That's what we are to pursue.
00:06:59.820 | Do good, love, be holy, not suffering.
00:07:04.600 | Suffering is not to be sought.
00:07:08.000 | Doing good is to be sought.
00:07:10.440 | Suffering will come, but it's not the goal.
00:07:13.920 | Love is the goal.
00:07:15.440 | Suffering is the price of love,
00:07:18.860 | but it's not the aim of loving.
00:07:22.280 | So don't go looking for trouble.
00:07:24.500 | Don't seek to suffer.
00:07:27.080 | Don't seek to be persecuted.
00:07:29.240 | Seek to love at any cost,
00:07:31.800 | including persecution or suffering.
00:07:36.160 | And then Peyton's last question is,
00:07:38.160 | "How might we apply this in our daily walk
00:07:42.120 | "as we battle unjust suffering?"
00:07:45.240 | Well, the way it applies to battling
00:07:47.320 | against unjust suffering,
00:07:49.080 | indeed against natural suffering like disease, calamity,
00:07:54.080 | is that it directs our attention outward to others,
00:07:58.540 | not inward to ourselves.
00:08:00.620 | If we said, "Seek suffering for righteousness' sake,"
00:08:04.480 | the focus would be on the pain we experience,
00:08:09.920 | not the blessing others experience.
00:08:13.200 | The focus would be on our heroic ability to endure suffering,
00:08:18.200 | not the lowly path of serving others.
00:08:23.020 | There's a huge difference
00:08:25.520 | between the crusade to attract criticism
00:08:30.360 | and the crusade to do as much good as you can
00:08:35.200 | and leave the persecution to God.
00:08:38.200 | Leave it to be what he makes of it.
00:08:40.640 | So Peter says in 310, 1 Peter 310,
00:08:44.960 | "Whoever desires to love life and see good days,
00:08:49.520 | "let him keep his tongue from evil,
00:08:52.600 | "and his lips from speaking deceit.
00:08:55.400 | "Let him turn away from evil and do good.
00:09:00.400 | "Let him seek peace and pursue it."
00:09:03.840 | So do good, pursue peace,
00:09:07.480 | and then he follows that with these words.
00:09:12.120 | "Now who's there to harm you
00:09:13.320 | "if you're zealous for what is good?
00:09:15.920 | "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake,
00:09:19.920 | "you'll be blessed.
00:09:21.660 | "Have no fear of them, nor be troubled."
00:09:24.320 | In other words, do good
00:09:27.080 | and hope for a good reception for your good.
00:09:31.280 | But if suffering comes, you're blessed.
00:09:35.900 | There's a great difference between this approach,
00:09:39.120 | there's a great difference between this approach to life
00:09:43.100 | than if you were to say that suffering is the main thing
00:09:48.100 | and so let's seek it.
00:09:50.120 | No, love is the main thing, so let's do it.
00:09:54.560 | - Yeah, that's a good word, balancing.
00:09:57.360 | And thanks for the question, Peyton,
00:09:59.440 | and thank you for spending this holiday week with us.
00:10:03.340 | You can ask a question of your own,
00:10:04.600 | search our growing archive,
00:10:05.520 | or subscribe to the podcast all at askpastorjohn.com.
00:10:09.660 | Well, what role do young Christians play
00:10:13.080 | in leading and guiding a local church,
00:10:16.120 | especially in light of young Christians
00:10:18.040 | being deferential to older Christians,
00:10:20.920 | according to 1 Peter 5:5?
00:10:23.280 | How does that work itself out in practice?
00:10:26.160 | Call Ask Pastor John.
00:10:27.940 | We'll see you on Monday.
00:10:29.140 | (upbeat music)
00:10:31.720 | (upbeat music)
00:10:34.300 | [BLANK_AUDIO]