Traits of a Bondservant of Christ

In my book, “Seven Traits of a Bond-Servant of Christ”, I list seven character traits or qualities of a slave of Christ that are very worthy of our pursuit. I am not suggesting there are only seven but the seven that I mention and will describe in this blog over time, I believe are critical to understand and pursue via the Spirit in order to develop the heart and character of a serious bond-servant of our Lord.

The first one described in some ways is an expression of the quality of humility about which I last posted: “A bond-servant of Christ is emptied of self and walks in deep humility before the Lord, faithfully obeying Him to the point of suffering hardship, humiliation, and even death if required.“

Wow, what a rather tall order. However, to begin with “emptied of self” does not mean I have to become a “non-person” in order to follow Christ as His bond-servant, but rather that my life is not self-focused to the point of being chronically unaware of the needs of those around me and failing to look out for their needs while not totally ignoring my own. “Do not merely look out for you own personal interests but also for the interests of others” [Philippians 2:4]. The next component of this trait says that a bond-servant is “faithfully obeying Him to the point of suffering…”. For most of us in our so-called “right mind” we would not normally volunteer to suffer. We might even consider such persons as a bit “off” mentally, for how in the world could a “normal” person, be willing to suffer deprivation, hardship, even torture and death, unless of course such person believed strongly in the cause or the person for which or for whom he is suffering. Thousands have gone to their death defending their emperor or leader believing in him or his cause. So, “obeying to the point of suffering” is nothing new really when it comes to the courageous commitment of many who are followers of certain leaders and ideologies. For a bond-servant of Christ, we are not following only a “cause” but rather a Person, the very Lord of Heaven. He happens to also have a “cause” for us, that of bringing His message to a dark, resistant world and helping those in the world who choose to embrace Him in faith and follow-ship. It seems also that the depth and strength of our obedience to our Lord is tested by our suffering.

SUFFERING AND ITS CONNECTION TO OBEDIENCE

Over the course of history, the pain, injustice, tragedy, and suffering [the “P.I.T.S.” of life] experienced or observed as an ever-present part of the human condition, have been a source of great emotional and intellectual struggle and perplexity as we grapple with the meaning or even “value” of suffering.  For some it may be a “mere” philosophical conundrum but for most of us, pain, injustice, tragedy, and suffering, be it physical or emotional are so real, so jarring, so troubling, that, like Job, we may experience fierce battles within us regarding the call to persevere in our faith. This is not a blog on the topic of suffering, nor do I feel especially enlightened to confront such a heavy and deeply perplexing subject, but we can extract from the scriptures certain truths to focus some light on this issue, our pathway through it and, most importantly to the issue at hand, the role that suffering plays in our obedience to our Lord.  I wish to review several New Testament passages to help us gain some focus.

               II Corinthians 12:9-10-Suffering creates the opportunity for God to display His power:

“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore, I Will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions with difficulties for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong”

Colossians 1:24-The sufferings of the individual members of the body of Christ are a part of Christ’s own sufferings. Because we identify with our Lord who suffered, we also will suffer. As Paul writes to the Colossians:

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s sufferings.”

A part of the shocking confrontation of Paul by the risen Jesus on the Damascus road, was His question to Paul: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Paul then inquired: “Who are you Lord? And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’..” [Acts 9: 4-5].  It is quite evident then, that our suffering in part at least, when it is for our Master, is because those who are of the world hate our Christ, and the visible presence of Christ in the world is His church, His children, and those who hate and desire to persecute Christ will do so via attacking His children, and that attacking His church is equal to attacking and persecuting Christ Himself.

II Thessalonians 1:4-5- Paul indicates that suffering is used by God to deepen our “worthiness” of participation in the Kingdom of God:

“therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering”

               II Timothy 1:8-12: As declared by Paul to Timothy, suffering for the Gospel is part of the calling on our lives as followers of Christ:

“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, …”

               Philippians 1: 29: Suffering is a gift from God and used by Him to perfect us in our obedience:

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake..”

               I Peter 2:19-23: Suffering is used by God to purify and deepen our obedience:

“For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.  For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.  For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

When we suffer unjustly, our natural response is to defend ourselves and often even retaliate.  The expression of our retaliation may take many forms including physical retaliation, withdrawal from the relationship, verbal [harsh, unkind words] , and many other ways.  Paul tells the Roman believers to “never pay back evil for evil to anyone” and “never take your own revenge” but instead do good to those who mistreat you, and “do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” [see Romans 12: 17-21]. As reflected in the passage of I Peter quoted above, Christ modeled for us how to respond when suffering unjustly.  The writer to the Hebrews makes a profound statement in this regard: “Although He was a son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered”. [Hebrews 5:8]. Since the Son of God was perfect in every way how could He “learn obedience”? I think we would all agree that true obedience cannot be tested without temptation, and one strong source of temptation is suffering. The depth of our obedience will be tested by our response to suffering, since suffering is one of the most, if not the most powerful temptations to abandon our faith and the entrustment of our souls to God.  Thus, suffering is directly connected to the depth of our obedience. Suffering is used by God to purge and purify us of our natural, strong tendency to defend, and justify ourselves, and retaliate against others.  Compelling evidence of a deep work of the grace of God in our lives is an ever expanding and enduring presence of a genuine non-retaliatory spirit within our individual character. 

Is suffering in your own life making you a better person or a bitter person? Like the Son of God, are you “learning obedience” through your suffering?