“But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’” (Acts 9:15-16).
Many Christians are familiar with this passage that refers to God’s calling of Paul to become a servant of Christ. Paul was to be God’s chosen instrument of the gospel to both the Jews and the Gentiles. What is particularly interesting and wonderful here is the insight into the way God planned to use Paul. By that I mean that God intended for Paul to “suffer” for His name’s sake.
God’s usage of the word “suffer” is crucial to an understanding of what it means to walk with God.
The form of “suffer” used here is the Greek word “pascho.” It refers to a real tangible experience, and is used almost always to refer to a bad experience. This same Greek word is used in Matthew 16:21 where Jesus prophesied that He would “suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Mark also recorded that “the Son of man must suffer many things. . .” (Mark 8:31). The point I’m making is that Paul’s future experience as a servant of God was not going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be the opposite. Paul was commissioned to suffer hardship after hardship for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel, and these hardships meant experiencing real distress, real trials, real burdens, real tiredness, real exhaustion, and real pain. Paul was called to suffer for Christ in an experiential way.
It is imperative that modern-day Christians realize that suffering is a necessary part of being a Christian. In reference to Christians in America, we have become accustomed to many comforts, and our lives have been so pampered, that it is often easy to avoid suffering for Christ. Yet, we are called to suffer in a real tangible way for the name of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Peter also writes in 1 Peter 4:1-2, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”
It is evident from these passages that those who are truly Christ’s disciples have a desire to experience suffering for His sake, in order that we might submit our total will to God and that Christ may live through us and be glorified. Christians do not suffer merely for the sake of suffering, but God has a true purpose in calling Christians to suffer. In calling Paul, God said that he would show Paul “how much he will suffer for the sake of my name.” In the 2 Corinthians 7 passage mentioned above, the purpose given for suffering is “so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Christians are called to suffer for the glory of God and His name. All of our difficulties, no matter how small or great, are set in order by God so that we might bring worship to Him.
Another more well-known passage that has this same line of thought is found in Mark 8:34 where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Notice the phrase “deny himself.” According to Thayer’s Lexicon, the word “deny” here literally means “to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone” and “to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests.” In the context of this passage, it can be concluded that Christ calls Christians to forget their own interests. Christians must literally lose acquaintance with their own desires and strive to use every cell in their bodies so that, as Paul says, “the life of Jesus may also be manifested in their bodies.”
This essential Christian teaching is in stark contrast to the false “health-and-wealth” doctrines preached by numerous pop-culture evangelists. Astonishingly, some preachers present the idea that God’s will on earth is for His children to be financially and physically prosperous. Creflo Dollar, pastor of World Changers Church International, is one of many health-and-wealth preachers of our age. To his credit, Dollar is biblically sound in many areas. Some of his sermons have excellent content. In a number of ways, Dollar is a man of integrity. However, I believe he has fallen prey to the belief that if a Christian follows a certain set of instructions, he can be financially secure and physically healthy. This ideology contradicts the Bible’s teaching about Christian suffering and sacrifice for Christ.
As stated on his website, Dollar believes that “poverty is not the will of God for any believer.” He also says that Christians “have every right to live wealthy and possess material riches-clothes, jewelry, houses, cars and money — in abundance.” What is his Scriptural support for these statements? Ultimately he has none, but in order to bring these false teachings out in the open, it is important to look more closely.
To prove that poverty is not God’s will, Dollar first turns to Ephesians 3:20, where Paul states, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Obviously, Dollar is emphasizing the part that I have underlined. Dollar’s interpretation: God can do anything immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, including bring a person out of poverty. There’s a big problem with this interpretation: This passage has little to do with finance and everything to do with the proclamation and knowledge Christ’s name. If the context of Ephesians 3:20 is read, the spirit of the verse becomes crystal clear. Notice the verses immediately before the verse Dollar selected:
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
The immeasurable gifts of God referred to by Paul make coming out of poverty pale in comparison. Paul wanted the Ephesians to know Christ through faith, to grasp the vastness of His love, and the be filled with the fullness of God! To even attempt vaguely associating this verse with struggles of financial poverty is, quite frankly, absurd.
Dollar also states that one can “seize and command wealth and riches to come to [him].” His Scripture for this statement comes out of Deuteronomy 8:18, which states, “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” This is one of the poorest examples of biblical study I have ever seen. Actually this verse refers to part of the laws that God was speaking to the people of Israel through the mouth of Moses. This particular verse is in reference to the enjoyment of the rich land of Canaan that God had given to Israel. God was making it clear to His people that it is the work of His hands (not man’s) that has provided the accumulated wealth of Israel. The Israelites did not seize or command anything here. They were only able to “produce” wealth because God had provided the wealthy land of Canaan to them.
This “contextual raping” occurs time and time again by health-and-wealth preachers like Dollar. Moreover, what Dollar fails to see is that these particular teachings do not have their ultimate focus on God. God does make promises to work all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called by Him (Romans 8:28), but sometimes what is good for some of His children is that they are not prosperous. Instead desiring material prosperity, we should strive to have the same attitude as Paul who said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). Also see 1 Timothy 6:6-11: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
Wanting to be wise with money, free from debt, financially stable, and physically healthy are all great desires that God is pleased with, but He never guarantees these things for us. We cannot seize or demand these things. What He does guarantee is a life of joy in Him that is eternally superior to anything we can have on earth. He guarantees us a place with Him in His kingdom forever and ever.
Scripture is clear that to follow Christ, we must give up any desires devoted solely for ourselves and redirect our passions for God’s glory. Most of us will never suffer as Paul did for Christ, but all Christians must suffer in the sacrifice of the lusts of the flesh that the world indulges in every day. We will be seen as strange and out of touch with reality. We will be perscuted verbally and sometimes physically for our love of Christ. But we must remain steadfast, because we know that having life in Christ and glorifying Him is worth suffering any hardship and trial. And so we must “lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1).
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