Articles in this series:
- Destined for persecution
- Destined for persecution (part 2) <-- This article
Costly Grace
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who was banned from preaching by the Gestapo. But in 1937 he had written in his classic work The Cost of Discipleship:
Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship… Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church, and one of the memoranda drawn up in preparation for the Augsburg Confession similarly defines the church as the community of those “who are persecuted and martyred for the Gospel’s sake.”… Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer. In fact, it is a joy and a token of His grace.
It is perhaps not a surprise to discover that in 1945, after imprisonment in a series of concentration camps, he was hanged by the Nazis. Ten years later, the camp doctor wrote “In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
What can bring a man to see so clearly that suffering is an undeniable part of the Christian life? What separates our faith from his? John Piper has the answer:
We don’t have a wartime mentality and therefore our young men and women do not gather late at night in basement rooms and plot their strategies to detonate Satan’s bridgehead and liberate some of his captives. We don’t see ourselves as insurgents in the alien territory of sin planting explosives of righteousness and truth at every fortified wall; and so our eyes don’t meet with a flame of eternal friendship… and say without a word amid a thousand aliens: “You and I will die for this cause and join hands in the resurrection.” We don’t feel like a fifth column devoted with all our strength to sabotage the rule of Satan in this world; and therefore our life together is not intense but petty. There are no coded handshakes of joy, or secret passwords. And there are few tearful embraces and songs of thanks because a squad of witnesses has returned safely even bringing some liberated captives home.
How many of us have surrendered to Satan’s lie that the world is not really lost, and the battle is not really great? How many of us are living as if Christ’s sufferings was not of much worth? How many of us must plead guilty to Bonhoeffer’s accusation that we’ve cheapened grace?
Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace… Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.
The Bible teaches us that we are called to share not just in Christ’s glory, but also in His sufferings (Romans 8:17). And suffering Christians are always pointed to Christ, both for explanation, and for encouragement.
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you… If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. (John 15:18-20)
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
It may be many years before Christians in this country face death for the sake of the gospel. Perhaps God will keep this nation from it until every one of us has passed into glory. Nevertheless, we must certainly be bold enough to face fundamentalist atheism and secular liberalism.
Yet does not God call us to be more than a witness for Him in the country of our birth? And therefore the challenge of Jesus’ words, to be faithful to the point of death, are not simply to encourage Christians in North Korea, in Pakistan or in Saudi Arabia. Why shouldn’t Westerners also be bold enough to face militant Islam, religious nationalism or military dictatorships?
Perhaps in our fear and trepidation, we need to be reminded that Christ’s suffering on our behalf is infinitely greater than ever our suffering on His behalf will be.
Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?Ashamed of Jesus! that dear Friend
On Whom my hopes of Heav’n depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere His Name.Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I’ve no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.Ashamed of Jesus! empty pride!
I’ll boast a Saviour crucified,
And O may this my portion be,
My Saviour not ashamed of me!
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Christians must realize that suffering is mandatory when following Christ. He tells us that in his word. That’s why we have the Holy Spirit, to help us through these trials and tribulations. We must remember Who we are, Who’s we are, and What we have. We have the Spirit of God himself living and breathing in us. Now days all Christians want is Blessings. Sometimes we forget about the suffering, but the more you suffer and endure, the more you become Christ like. We must remember that Christ suffered unto death. Sometimes we get mad about a parking spot. We must remember to take a licking and keep on ticking. We are built to last. God will never put more on us than we can bare. We put more on ourselves than we can bare, then we fault God.