Rev. Douglas Whitelaw, M.A. is the executive director of Ark Aid Mission in London, Ontario. This post is from his paper 'Toward A Theology of Suffering'.
SECTION 8/9
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Perhaps the
biggest point of all lost to our culture is that suffering is the route to joy.
This was Christ's motivation: “for the sake of the joy that was set before him
endured the cross” Heb 12:2. Since Jesus here is noted to be the 'pioneer and
perfecter' of our faith' here is our pattern. We pursue happiness through
pleasure, but joy results from suffering. This is another way of saying that
suffering is usually the means to discover the purpose of one's life. Then, too
there is the point we noted above that in serving Christ we willingly take on
additional suffering for him: “For he has graciously granted you the privilege
not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well” (Phil 1:29).
Our theology of the sufficiency of Christ's atonement obscures the fact that
our suffering is also necessary for the gospel to progress, as Paul notes in
Col. 1:24, “I am rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am
completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body,
that is, the church.” For those who choose, or accept the calling to a life of
Christian ministry and service, as with Jesus, joy is the motivation and reward
for suffering that often is in the form of privation that carries the gospel to
the ends of the earth. Regular preaching on the biblical view of joy may be a
fruitful approach to convey a theology of suffering. Stressing it during
theological training may result in more persistent ministry and ministers.
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