We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I heard Bonhoeffer quoted on the radio today and have not been able to verify the quote, but it was to the effect of We must learn to rightly relate to suffering....suffering is not a curse, it is the evidence of God's loving favor upon a life.
Doesn't make sense. Or does it....it is, as mentioned in my previous vampire post, that it is promised for those that follow Christ. I understand sacrifice...I understand that Christ sacrificed for us and that we are called to sacrifice all for him. I mean, heck, we even had an entire Youth Summer Camp dedicated to the theme SACRIFICE '90! But...it turns out that to obey is better than sacrifice. What gives?
Romans 1:5 says that obedience comes thru faith. Interesting that Paul discusses bringing people to OBEDIENCE. OBEDIENCE seems to always require SACRIFICE. Either of time, will, desires, posessions, etc. OBEDIENCE to the gospel is OBEDIENCE to lay it all down, to SACRIFICE your way for his way, your life for his. It requires the SACRIFICE of your life...you are to share in the suffering and death of Christ. Seems like Paul should be calling people to SACRIFICE. Didn't the rich young ruler have to SACRIFICE his stuff?
But Paul specifies OBEDIENCE. Didn't the Old Testament (I Sam 15:22) teach us that to OBEY is better than SACRIFICE?
The OBEDIENCE part is difficult. SACRIFICE feels easy because we can measure it. We are able to accomplish it, it is immediately apparent and we can often pat ourselves on the back for "suffering for Jesus".
True OBEDIENCE tells you what, when, where how and how much to share in Christ's SACRIFICE and that kind of OBEDIENCE takes a serious amount of FAITH.
SACRIFICE is never a substitute for OBEDIENCE, but when done by FAITH, thru OBEDIENCE it can become a very spirtual act of worship.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
The evidence of God's favor
Posted by Heath at 8:18 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I remember everyone burning all their cassette tapes at that summer camp.
So, now you got me thinking ... we can sacrifice without obedience (like Saul did--for the wrong reasons), but we can't obey without sacrifice. Which is why obedience is better than sacrifice. Obedience includes sacrifice, but is a result of listening to God--not ritual, camp expectations, or looking holy. K, just thinking it through here... Thanks.
Love the Bonhoffer quotes.
Relatedly, you might appreciate the video on this blog: http://pjcockrell.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/you-must-suffer-john-piper/
The whole subject sure does challenge doesn't it? I think sacrifice is most difficult when you are trying to figure out if it is the result of obedience or disobedience. If you know for sure it is the result of obedience, it is bearable. If, in the human condition, you're not sure whether you are in full obedience, the sacrifice is a bit more distressing. What if I am suffering as a result of my own failures?
Or...what if your failures are just a part of the process of learning obedience and having the faith to obey? Failures always happen and the consequence of those can be "punishment" or just the natural consequences that come from choices and those are the very instruments God is using to build our "obedience faith" ?
Copied from Nicole in Facebook.
It is in the wilderness we will find Him.
I used to think that obedience- or let's say the knowing what the right decision is- would be easier, if I was standing right in front of Jesus and he was telling me what to do and the result would be. I realize now that is total load of crap. I do have Jesus's clear commands right before me (e.g. love your niehgbor, pray for your enemies, don't have idols, don't love money....), but I still disobey. The reality is that obedience is always hindered by the "old man," the sinner hiding in me. That's not necessarily comforting, but at least I can stop fooling myself into thinking that if i just knew the outcome, or had clearer instruction obedience would be easier. The truth is I might still disobey.
As it relates to sacrifice, all obedience is a sacrifce to a certain degree. By choosing to obey this or that instruction I am denying myself the to opportunity to do the oppoiste or something else. Sometimes this is easy because its something I want to do. Sometimes its hard because I don't. But all our choices require that we have one course of action and not another. For example, I married Jen, thereby sacrificing the oppotunity to live single or marry another woman. Something I wanted to do, but nevertheless a sacrifice. However, as it relates to obeying Jesus, obedience always seems to come at greater cost because it usaully goes contrary to what I (read my flesh)really want to do. Therefore "counting the cost" of following Jesus is not only a one-time choice, but an ongoing decision to obey Jesus-to choose his way at the cost of all that I might wish to have otherwise. It is a life of sacrifice, but one called for and sustained by the God-Man who paid the ultimate price...peace, Chael
Post a Comment