Preparing to Suffer Well for Christ

I was terrified. In an evening service, the small church I attended as a child with my family had shown a movie about Rome’s persecution of first-century Christians. Even if the filmmakers had presented the cruelties “tastefully,” my seven-year-old heart and mind weren’t ready for them. I can still envision Christians hiding from soldiers in back street shadows and soon-to-be martyrs peering through prison-cell windows. The sound of the raucous arena in the distance was chilling. At least to my little ears.  

In the years that followed, I often asked myself, “Am I willing to die for Jesus?” Never certain of my answer, I would push the question aside. But when I was pregnant with our first son, it resurfaced. A mass shooting at Columbine High School dominated the nightly news, and reporters spoke of a student who lost her life when a gunman asked, “Do you believe in God?” She answered, “Yes,” and he shot her.

If I had been there, how would I have answered in that moment?

Are We Ready?

Every faithful Christian will suffer for the sake of Christ. In God’s providence, we won’t all experience the same type, extent, or intensity of persecution for our loyalty to Jesus. The Church in the West has known a unique period of general comfort and safety, but we’re naïve to think it will always be this way. With shifts in social and political landscapes, Christ followers are experiencing more opposition and loss in the family, workplace, and public square. Today’s Christian, who holds to the gospel and the word of God, can anticipate hardship for Christ’s name and honor. It will come. And it will increase.

The question is, are we ready for it?

To prepare ourselves to suffer well for Christ’s sake in a moment of significant crisis, we must learn to suffer well in these days of relative ease. What we will need to do then, we need to practice now. In 1 Peter 4:12-19, the apostle Peter shows us the way.

Expect to Suffer for Christ

By the time Peter writes his first epistle, he’s learned to expect suffering as a follower of Christ. But that hasn’t always been Peter’s perspective. Years earlier, when Jesus foretold his own death, Peter rebuked him. When the Romans arrested Jesus, Peter drew his sword to defend him. When Jesus stood trial, Peter tried to protect himself by denying him. After one look from the afflicted Savior, Peter’s self-righteousness and self-preservation crumbled. He’s now come to understand that suffering unjustly is part of Jesus’ plan, and he can’t expect better treatment than his Lord received.

With this understanding Peter writes, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Pet. 4:12).  There’s nothing remarkable about us suffering for Christ’s sake. The prophets who hoped in Jesus and the disciples who walked with him were mocked, tortured, and murdered. Christians throughout history have endured untold “fiery trials” from false accusations to physical atrocities. To prepare ourselves for the crosses we’ll bear, we must remind ourselves that we’re not immune from such things. As it was for the believers who have gone before us, and as it will be for us, and as it will be for those who follow—suffering for Christ is a burden to be expected and shared.

Rejoice to Identify with Christ

Suffering well for Christ doesn’t require us to delight in our actual mistreatment. But it does involve rejoicing in identifying with our Savior and his sufferings. Peter encourages us, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet. 4:13-14).

Christ’s undeserved death fully paid for our sin and secured our place in heaven. Yet when we identify with him by suffering for his name, we multiply our future joy—our celebration—at his return. As great as our momentary losses will have been, our eternal gains will be all the greater! Until then, as we encounter hardship for our Savior, we can give him thanks and praise knowing that it reveals he’s set his Spirit upon us. Even now, when anticipating suffering yet to come, we must resolve to be devoted to Christ and to be known by his name. Faithfulness to Jesus in the days ahead is built upon rejoicing in him today.

Conduct Yourselves Like Christ

Early in his epistle, Peter calls us to be holy because God is holy. He then applies that call to persecution: “Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1 Pet. 4:15-16). Jesus suffered for doing what was right. He always honored the Father’s will, and he completely fulfilled the law of God. All that Jesus did was holy, and he was hated for it. If we’re to be hated, may it be for imitating his holiness.

We must never equate the suffering that results from sin with the suffering endured for serving Christ. Any hardship encountered because of our ungodliness cannot be attributed to following Jesus. But if we suffer because of Christlike faith and obedience, we can praise God for the privilege to represent our Lord. To be prepared for such suffering, we must practice Christlike conduct daily, without compromise.

Entrust Yourselves to God in Christ          

Peter’s final words in 1 Peter 4 summarize his previous exhortations: “Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Pet. 4:19). Entrusting our eternal well-being to our Creator is at the heart of suffering well for Christ. And who’s the faithful Creator we commit ourselves to? He’s the same one our Savior entrusted himself to in his own suffering (1 Pet. 2:23).

Peter could refer to God here in any number of ways, but he chooses “Creator” with all its implications. Whether our suffering for Jesus is small or significant, with this title the apostle comforts us with a reminder that we’re known, seen, and loved by our Father. He emboldens us with the knowledge that we—and those who oppose us—are under his sovereign rule. And he encourages us with the assurance that he is our help to the end.