Processing pain and suffering.

Growing up on the country-side in a farm, accidents were regular events in my life. Sometimes, it was a thorn that got stuck on my feet when I explored the farm barefoot, or a broken arm when I fell off the branches of a tree that I tried to climb up. The most difficult part of life is the process of healing. Sometimes, my older cousins acted as surgeons who removed the thorn with a needle. Sometimes I had to be rushed to the hospital to put the bones back together and a cast which lasted for weeks. Enduring the pain was part of the healing process. Without endurance, there is no healing and recovery.
Suffering comes with two choices. Either get out of it through the shortest route or endure it until healing. One of my relatives chose the first. She hurt her finger when cutting vegetables. Everyone advised her to go to the doctor but she refused. She knew that the doctor will give her an anti-septic shot, tabs and probably stitch it up. Moreover, the injury did not appear to be big, the pain had stopped as the bleeding stopped as well. However, it got complicated. She had cut a nerve on her finger. For the rest of her life, she was not able to move that finger. If she was willing to endure, life would have been better for her.
The issue in the Book of Hebrews is more than hurting a thorn that stuck on the feet or a finger-nerve that was hurt. But it was life and death issues. It was persecution of the politically weak and socially insignificant minority of Christians somewhere in the Roman empire. Their property was confiscated, many of them were arrested and imprisoned and some were even physically tortured.
The writer of this epistle encourages them to hang on! To endure it and endure it more. The writer said, you are suffering but you are still alive, so go ahead suffering until death! That is what Hebrews 12:4 says: 'In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.'
What is the secret of enduring pain and suffering? The secret of enduring pain and suffering is to process it as the discipline and not as punishment. Though discipline and punishment may sound synonymous in the English language they are not strictly so. Punishment may make us remorseful, guilty and even ashamed of our actions. We can go through the pain of punishment if we accept our part in it. However, there are times when we suffer for reasons that are not of our own. You can call it innocent suffering, or at least the pain for which we have no explanation. How do we process such situations?
This is why imagining pain as the discipline is important. The difference between discipline and punishment is evident. Punishment assumes that a wrong is committed. The goal of punishment could be correction but need not always be so. It is most of the time the natural consequence of the mistake; every wrong act has to be punished either to stop it repeating, or to warn others not to do the same. However, discipline is not punishment.
Discipline has to be understood more as a pedagogical method. It is more close to training a person than punishing a person. Discipline equips a person, sometimes ironically to face worse situations. We learn through discipline. Thus when suffering is considered as preparation for enduring harder realities of life, it becomes easier.
I once met a young man carrying a heavy backpack. He told me that he is carrying some heavy rocks in that backpack! Every day, he adds more stones to make it heavier than the previous day and walks longer carrying it. He was doing some strength training. To develop his own strength he endures more and  more pain.
Discipline becomes a lighter and enjoyable when we know the reason for it. Discipline becomes more enjoyable not only when we know the reason for it but also when we realize who is behind it. The Bible uses an earthly model or us to understanding it. Our earthly parents do disciple us. Though the discipline is painful we still 'respected them' since we knew that the purpose of their action was our good. So, the Bible asks, 'Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits land live?'(Heb 10:9).
God does lead us through pain and suffering out of his fatherly concern for us. What is his fatherly concern for us? Discipline is lighter when we discover the motivation behind it. It is motivated by love. That is what the figure of the father suggests. The father disciplines the children he loves. 'For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Heb 12:6).
Love is not the only reason, but it also has another long-term goal, that is our holiness. God's act of disciplining us, passing us through pain and suffering is to make to purify us, or holiness. Achieving new levels of holiness is almost irreversible act. Through the process of pain of being disciplined we learn new ways of knowing God and his moral standards. Knowing God and him becoming more and more real to us is the greatest achievement in life. Though it is difficult, suffering has greater benefit when we know that God is behind it and we are in God's plan. That realization makes pain and suffering lighter and enjoyable.

Religious Violence—Laying down Lives not Taking Lives

Television and newspapers has been very disturbing these days. To add to our woe we have multiple choices of media that update us on the disturbing news happenign all over the world. The slaughter of Egyptian Christians by ISIS in Libya and many reenacted videos telling the real stories of individuals and communities who are masacred by the Islamic fundamentalists belong to this list. The story of a village pastor who was abducted and killed by some Hindu groups in India recently came as a shock. Violence in the name of religion is on the rise.
I realized that many times I don’t pause to ask what is involved until I saw a reenacted video of what a family in Syria went through. If I didn’t have that video narrating what that family went through their story would have been merely a newspaper headline for me. The video portrayed the struggles that the family went through when they realized that the militants were approaching and they will be their targets soon! They realized that the militants will demand that they accept Islam and they will be tempted to deny Jesus to save their lives. They realized that God demands their lives as a sacrifice for the sake of Christ. Finally, the day came and right in front of the wife and the two kids the husband was shot dead.
The video made me realize one thing—there is more than a mere headline to what is going on in the lives of my brothers and sisters who are at the line of fire for Christ. Their story is more than a few pictures that flashes across my TV screen. It also told me that I need to explore the depth of their struggles in order to pray for them.
This also takes my thoughts in another direction. Why should anyone be killed in the name of religion? Why should those who have a different faith than my own be killed?
Jesus’ instructions to his disciples as he sent them out to preach has to be pondered on. Jesus said:

 As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. (Matt 10:12-14 ESV).

Jesus did not anticipate that all those who hear the Gospel is going to accept it. A lot of people are likely to reject what his disciples preach. However, the disciples are not supposed to force it on them. Preach the gospel in a convincing and acceptable way but if it is rejected move on shaking the dust on your feet. Shaking dust on ones feet was a way of saying that I am not responsible for the consequences but you are. That is all.
At times the response will not be just denial of the message but the messenger may face persecution. Not just a feeling of rejection but physical harassment to the point of death. Jesus advised them not to worry about their defense before courts of law when they are arrested and charged. Sometimes they were charged with treason, sometimes for blaspemy, sometimes they were accused of disturbing peace and order and the list may go on. Jesus assured them that they didn’t have to worry about their defense, they will have the help of the Holy Spirit right on time. Jesus said:

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matt 10:16-20 ESV).

Jesus knew that if they were anxious about their defenses they will be tempted to invent lies, find false evidences to get off the noose and in the process of doing these lose God’s favour in their lives. He assured divine help in such times.
Preaching the gospel may lead to physical harassment and even death. Way of Christ is not an easy road to prosperity and success but it is costly. However, God challenges us to embrace it fully. To follow the Master to the cross. Jesus encouraged his disciples not to be worried about death at the hands of their enemies.

 I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4-5 ESV).

The Book of Hebrews challenged its readers to lay down their lives.

 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:4 ESV).

There could be point in the life of the followers of Christ, which is ‘shedding’ one’s own blood. There is no place in the Bible for shedding other’s blood to protect or to propogate our faith. Bible teaches us to lay down our lives for the sake of our faith but not to take the life of others. That is where the uniqueness of the way of Christ is. It gives life and never takes life.

Handling Abusive Surprise

All these years my work always involved dealing with youth who have left their old ways and made a commitment to follow Christ. Just as old habits die hard, so also the old friends. They have to keep the old companies for various reasons. They live in the same neighbourhood, they are the same college and there could be various ways they share their spaces. There are times of conflict as their conversion brings in new moral demands different from that of their friends. For example, a new believer in Christ who was a chain smoker finds it difficult to keep the friendship of his fellow smokers. Peter wrote to first generation Christians who were in a similar situation: "They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you" (1 Peter 4:4).

Unable to enjoy the company of the new believer, the friends begin to abuse that person. Many of us who had to part with sinful ways of life when we embraced the new life in Christ may still remember some hurting abusive words that we had to endure. However, the encouraging thing is that this abuse is the result of their surprise. Friends who shared their sinful ways with us are surprised that one of them could break away with those ways and start a new life! If our lives have caused that surprise then the abuse can be ignored.

However, this surprise and the abuse may not last long too. Moreover, it may have positive results as this story about a young soldier that I read long time ago illustrates. A young man who lived a very bad life joined the army and there he accepted Jesus as his personal saviour through the army chaplain. A few months later he had to go home and he was afraid that his old friends waiting for his return might drag him back to his life before Christ. His Chaplain had a very good advise for him. He told him not to keep his conversion a secret and let his friends know about it.

As he landed in the railway station he met one of his friends who offered him a cigar as he always used to do. This young man not only politely refused it but also told him that he is a new creation. The friend laughed at him and hurled insults at him as he walked away. Then he meets another friend who invites him to have a drink in order to celebrate his return. He not only refused it but also told him why as a follower of Christ he should not do that. The news spread in his small town that he is different. The prostitute whom he used to visit spotted him in the market and hurled insults at him. As he walked past the pub people came out and made painful comments about him. But nobody dared to force him to get back to the old ways. They had given up on him; that was a new freedom! However, it had a cost: abusive surprise.

If we can give our sinful companions a surprise, then the abuses are worth it. What is important is to shock (or embarrass) them with the radical change in our lives.

The Days of Antipas

"The days of Antipas" means not only a period of persecution but a period of perseverance as well. It signifies the days of believers who withstood the pressures from outside to surrender.

In the church in the city of Pergamum, there were some people who remained faithful to Jesus in the days of severe persecution. Apostle John calls these days of persecution "the day of Antipas" (Rev. 2:13). 
The Antipas mentioned here should not be confused with Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great. Herod Antipas was a wicked ruler whom Jesus called "fox". He is the one who offered the head of John the Baptist on a silver platter to his daughter. He might have tried to kill Jesus and presided over Jesus' trial. However, the Antipas mentioned in Revelation 2 was the bishop of Pergamum, a pagan city in the first century AD. The name means "against all." There is a great contrast in the names--Herod was against all that was good, however, Antipas the bishop of Pergamum was against all that was bad.
Living in a pagan city and witnessing to the power of Jesus was not easy. The city of Pergamum was a center of pagan worship where sacrifices were offered to demons. That is why the Bible calls this city "... where Satan has his throne" (Rev. 2:13). An ancient writer, Simeon Metaphrastes records that the demons of this city appeared to the people there and told them that since the power of Antipas was casting them out they cannot live anymore in that city. The people approached the conservative governor of the city to restrain Antipas. However, Antipas refused to budge and had to pay a very high price of his defiance. The aged Antipas was thrown to the brazen altar alive and was roasted. His martyrdom is celebrated by some orthodox churches on April 11 every year.
Some members of the church of Pergamum "remained true" to the name of Jesus even in this difficult times. "The days of Antipas" means not only a period of persecution but a period of perseverance as well. It signifies the days of believers who withstood the pressures from outside to surrender. Believers in various parts of the world are going through persecution. We need the grace of God to turn this period of persecution to "days of Antipas", the days of those who withstand the pressure to surrender their faith.