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The Devil's Mask on the Face of God
A response to Ajith Fernando's 'To Serve Is to Suffer'
To facilitate a truly global conversation, we ask Christian leaders from around the world to respond to the Global Conversation's lead articles. These points of view do not necessarily represent Christianity Today magazine or the Lausanne Movement. They are designed to stimulate discussion from all points of the compass and from different segments of the Christian community. Please add your perspective by posting a comment so that we can learn and grow together in the unity of the Spirit.
"Thus God wears the mask of the Devil, and the Devil wears the mask of God; God wants to be recognized under the mask of the Devil, and he wants the Devil to be condemned under the mask of God."
Some of you will recognize in this opening quote the inimitable style of the great Protestant reformer, Martin Luther. He considered suffering an essential mark of the true church, and these words in a way sum up his brief discussion of the matter in his Galatians commentary. We expect God to provide us with smooth sailing, but God sometimes comes in and with a tempestuous storm, wearing a mask of the Devil, the destroyer of life and love. And as if it were not enough of a paradox that God would appear in the guise of the Adversary, one more paradox is at the heart of the Christian faith: it takes suffering—Christ's suffering and the suffering of Christ's followers—to destroy the destroyer of life. Unlike many today, Ajith Fernando knows this. More importantly, he lives this. He is a voice of our Christian conscience, my Christian conscience as well.
Today, I live a life of relative ease. I teach at a major research university in the West. Indeed, I have it so good that I sometimes say that if I were independently wealthy, I'd pay myself to do exactly (well, almost exactly) what I do now. I have found joy in my vocation. I sometimes wonder, though, about the "weight" of what I do measured on divine scales, the only ones that truly matter. And then in the midst of contentment and joy, I think of the cross, "an essential element in our definition of vocational fulfillment," as Ajith puts it.
In my office I have two crosses. One is a dark and stark etching of an emaciated and lacerated Jesus, and the other is a metal sculpture of Christ's body on the cross, leaning forward and twisted so that, viewed from above, it has a shape of a dove, ready to fly off, bearing the fruit of Christ's suffering to the world. When I look at these two crosses, my mind sometimes wanders back to Croatia, where I was born, and Serbia, where I grew up. Communists were then ruling over these lands, and they did not look kindly on religious folks like us. Informers frequented my father's Pentecostal church and plain-clothes police came for "visits" to our home. On one occasion, after an angry mob organized by the local government had abused, beaten, and driven out of town a small Christian band in which I was playing, I was briefly jailed for taping a conversation as three of us, led by Peter Kuzmic, protested the abuse with the local police. We did not seek "persecution"; it found us, and it did so for no other reason than that we were followers of Christ. Maybe surprisingly, in all this there was joy—not so much "happiness," but deep joy.
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Andrew Smith
Paul talks about suffering as being a gift Philippians 1:29 that accompanies our belief in Christ. To suffer is about apart of our ministry and calling.
Andrew
"Churches committed to programs can grow numerically, but they don't nurture biblical Christians who understand the implications of belonging to the body of Christ." This is altogether too true of the church today. The church is too concerned with power and growth financially and numerically. Of course one wants the church to grow numerically, if those numbers truly reflect the amount of souls and hearts that are trandformed to Jesus. Growth for the skae of growth is a lie to ourselves and the people around us. If we labor for months and one live is saved for Jesus should we not rejoice for that one the same no matter what the circumstances? As to the idea of suffering, I think we must see suffering as two fold. We must see the suffering of the unredeemed world different from the suffering of a witness to Christ. As Sarah's comment just below expresses, God does not necessarily want for people to suffer. That is why we are called to do Jesus' minisrty of healing and freeing people from bondage and oppression. But in doing so, the ones who witness to Christ will suffer and be persecuted. As one's suffering is alleviated another may have to endure. Sound familiar? Jesus endured the pain of our transgressions to save us. As disciples of Christ, we may need to endure pain, persecution, and suffering in order to free others from their's.
Andrew
Thank you so much for this Mr. Fernando. While I'm sure that the suffering and frustration that I've witnessed and experienced as a Christian in the United States in minuscule compared to what you deal with, it's a huge encouragement to hear your opinion on it. It seems like I often get the message that if a person or ministry is suffering, or having technical or financial troubles, then it is because they are doing something wrong and should change the error in their ways in order to be "blessed." I've always felt that this was not true, but it is tiring to hear again and again. So thank you again for this article.
Jessalyn Huffman
I agree completely with what this article has to say about suffering. Christians are not to avoid or fear suffering. How un-Christlike! If we are truly following Christ we will embrace suffering the way he did, with joy and gladness. For the sake of the lost and the glory of the Father, Jesus became the suffering servant, taking on all sin and pain. As his imitators, we can expect to partake in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, and through that exercise to know the power of his resurrection.
Kathleen Devine Linnen
I am trying to obtain admission to Hosanna Bible Training Center. Through prayer and fasting my childhood "want" is still in my heart, and after reading this article the want is there even more. My dilemma: I am 54yrs old and disabled but I do believe in healing which the Lord has been working miracles in me, physically and especially spiritually. Am I too old to do missionary work? I know I can evanglize anywhere but I have felt Akron Oh. is not enough, I want more. I know the Lord's will be done in the final desicion but would like feedback on my question.
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