An “heir” is someone “who inherits or is entitled to succeed to a hereditary rank, title, or office”. Romans 8:17 ESV assures us of what we will inherit in our future.
We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ? But wait…
…”provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”
I have struggled with this verse ever since I read it recently. It’s part of the discourse dripping with theology with authorship given to the Apostle Paul. I won’t reprint it here in full so click on the link and read Romans 8:12-17 for yourself.
Suffer with him?
There is no doubt Christ suffered, throughout his life, the final days while in Jerusalem during Passover and finally when executed on the cross. And he bore more than physical suffering. He took on the sin of all the people of the world, past, present and future. Then he was separated from the Father for the only time in all of eternity while he bore the weight of our sin. Did he suffer? Mightily.
Do I desire to be a fellow heir with Christ? Yes, indeed.
Am I willing to pay the price? Well…
Earlier in my faith journey, this was a frightening prospect. What must I suffer to share in the suffering of Christ and become his fellow heir? Physical torture? Beatings? Die as a martyr? Surely this has happened and is happening to this present day. But is it this that I should fear? No.
My greatest fear is that I will choose comfort over suffering. That I will not have the courage to say “no” to comfort and accept the uncomfortable. The truth is, I don’t have that courage.
Even that I must submit to God and ask him to provide in me the courage to choose as he would have me choose. In my life as a western-born and residing Christian, not much is uncomfortable. Yet there are those times when we’re confronted with the uncomfortable for the sake of our faith:
- Saying yes to join a ministry that is inconvenient, like getting up very early in the morning
- Giving more financially rather than making that new, major purchase
- Having awkward conversations with adult children about their faith journey and yours
- Taking time spent with aging parents when it doesn’t seem to matter
- Deciding to lead a bible study in your home
- Going on a mission trip rather than a vacation this year
It may be that you or I have it in our future to be martyred, tortured or die in a big way for the sake of our faith. However, most of us will not come to that end. For us, it will be how we live out our ordinary, somewhat mundane lives will provide the measure of our “suffering”.
Should we be afraid of the pain of suffering? Well, I guess that would be natural. And yet God can strengthen us and comfort us through that if this becomes the case.
Yet I think the greater risk isn’t that. It is that we will find it too easy to choose comfort. To delay serving those in need, to not act, to stay on the sidelines and not live out our faith in a way this disrupts what would otherwise be our “normal” lives.
So, today, what one idea do you have to disrupt your life and serve God and the people he loves? What still, small voice whispers to you about that one thing?
Richard Bahr 