An Imperfect Christian Response to Reports of Suffering in the World
While the world focuses on “who to blame” this week for all of the tragedies that are occurring around the world. How should we respond to such reports as Christians? And, how should we shepherd our families in response to suffering?
Mourn – At a recent funeral the pastor who was speaking said something along the lines that God made us to cry in response to death and we need not withhold crying, but instead can let it out. Remember, Christ’s first response to the death of Lazarus was not to “fix,” but to weep. “Jesus wept.” We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. (Heb. 4:15) Jesus is able to relate to our current emotions about world events, and he sympathizes with our weaknesses. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4. And, for those who know Christ, we mourn with hope knowing that they have been given eternal hope through Jesus Christ. Death, while tragic, also reminds us that death is not the end for those who are in Christ.
Listen to the requests coming from brothers and sisters in Christ and pray for them.
Listen to the how the world processes such events. As you listen to the news notice the indirect statements about God, truth, value, men and women. Listen to discern the times in which we live. What are the idols of our land? Listen to your spouse, your kids, your neighbors. How are the people around you processing these events? Seek to understand those around you.
Pray – Let us be asking the Lord in faith, with no doubting, to provide for his children around the world. Jesus taught his disciples to persevere in believing prayer, even asking the question, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Let us pray, and persevere in praying, and believe that God will answer our prayers for His will and His glory. As you pray, be comforted with the reality that “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
Talk – Talk about it with your spouse, kids, or peers. These events, and our grief over them, only further reveal that we are not home, yet. We are pilgrims, strangers, and exiles on earth. We are in the world, but not of it. In 2015 Christian Library Press published a video series and book entitled “For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles” in it they write that the approaches to the world that the church has often adopted out of fear rather than love are Fortification, Domination, or Accommodation. “Instead of taking the long view –seeking the welfare of the inhabitants of the land we’re in – we panic and take the short view. We hide (fortification), fight (domination), or blend (accommodation) into our surroundings. The short view is rooted in fear, a reaction to crisis with a sense of urgency.” Because of Christ, we are salt and light in this world, and we need not hide from the world, fight against the world, or blend with the world, we are exiles in the world called to love the people in it. (Luke 10:30-37)
Yes, these weeks are hard, but they are not unique. History attests to a high percentage of people dying in many unpleasant ways. As C.S. Lewis wrote during the times of great fear over atomic bombs, “if we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible human things –praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts – not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.” When Israel was in exile under Babylonian control the Lord commanded them to “seek the welfare of the city,” may we (the church) seek the welfare of the city in which God has placed us in as well as we live as exiles in this world. (Jeremiah 29:7)
Awaiting our blessed hope,
Joey Turner