Count the Cost

 

Suffering 22

 

          If you serve God it is going to cost you. Our Lord said as much. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? (Luke 14.28) It is going to cost you time, money, work, and it is going to cost you suffering. If you want your ministry to grow in effectiveness or in scope you must understand it will cost you more of all of these, especially suffering.

          The link between serving God and suffering is found all through the Word of God. If you do not understand this, you will be tempted to quit when the suffering begins to roll in, or when the suffering begins to exponentially increase. In today’s post, I aim to drive this point home by showing you a variety of ways we suffer as we serve the Lord. To be clear, we could avoid all of these if we quit serving God. So count the cost.

          First, if we serve God, we will experience criticism, reviling, rebuke, and perhaps persecution. We find this in the Old Testament. O Lord, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke (Jeremiah 15.15). We also find it in the New Testament. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name (Acts 5.41). By my count, there are at least eighteen specific references to this in the Word of God along with numerous personal examples.

          You will be criticized, mocked, and attacked by your friends, your family, and your coworkers. Some of this is driven by genuine concern for you. Some of it is driven by pride. Some of it is a reaction against the conviction your life provokes in them. Some of it is driven by peer pressure.

          You will also be criticized, mocked, and attacked by the brethren in Christ. Some of this is driven by misunderstanding. Some of it is driven by genuine doctrinal disagreement. Much of it is driven by a lack of charity and grace along with accompanying pride. Elbert Hubbard said, “To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.” If you take a stand, brace yourself. Just put your flak jacket and helmet on. The hits are going to keep coming.

Most of these are verbal, but in the wisdom of God occasionally the attack directed our way for our public stand/service for the Lord becomes actual. This is persecution. It is driven by the devil, who hates God, hates truth, and hates God’s people. He whips the world up into an emotional frenzy aimed directly at all that God loves and he hates. It will come more and more as we draw nearer the Second Coming. So count the cost.

Second, we must suffer to get out the gospel. If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ (I Corinthians 9.12). Getting out the gospel takes time, money, and hard work. Often the only thing we get in return is discouragement, rejection, little to no visible results, and an abiding sense of futility. Jack Hyles used to say, “We do not suffer to make salvation possible but we do suffer to make it available.” Elijah experienced this, Noah experienced this, Jeremiah experienced this, and Jesus experienced this in spades.

In addition to this, I would also argue the Christian who is dedicated to getting out the Gospel must suffer with a deep and abiding sense of the burden of sin’s consequence, hell. For this type of believer, the fact of hell is an ever-present reality. It drives him, motivates him, spurs him to continue. One more tract. One more visit. One more door. One more conversation. The eternal destiny of those around him weighs on him constantly.

This, too, we see in our Saviour. The last week of His life, as He and His Apostles enter Jerusalem the Judean hills echoed with shouts of acclamation. Yet our Saviour’s cheeks were wet with tears. He looked forward in time to the consequence of Israel’s rejection of Him and the corresponding destruction of Jerusalem under Titus some forty years hence. Their destiny burdened him even in His moment of greatest public acclaim.

Third, there is suffering that comes in pursuit of spiritual growth. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3.8). For instance, as the Spirit convicts me of sin I suffer the painful reminder of my own shortcomings, and the difficult task of mortifying my flesh and allowing Christ to live in me. Giving up the things Tom Brennan loves hurts sometimes. Study is a necessary part of the growing Christian’s life, and study is hard work. As we go deeper with Him we often find it a very lonely quest. And I could mention numerous other aspects of suffering entailed in the pursuit of spiritual growth.

Fourth, there is deep suffering in the ministry of sympathy.

I find this comes when I must ask others to do something that is obviously difficult for them. They are wronged and I ask them to forgive. God is silent and I ask them to trust. They are struggling financially and I ask them to tithe. Their marriage is sheer pain and I ask them not to divorce. As I ask them to do what I believe God wants them to do I hurt knowing how much they will hurt in doing it.

I find this comes when I must endure all manner of loss as God prepares me to minister to others. Thus, when I call on others to allow God to use them I know I am asking them to suffer. I feel that most keenly. This is the route God must take to prepare them for service, but I am asking a lot of them and I know it. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Hebrews 2.18).   

 I find this comes when I seek to be to others the paraclete that God is to me. I am instructed by Paul, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep (Romans 12.15). When your heart is breaking it will cost you, beloved, to paste a smile on your face and fellowship with those who are walking in the sunshine. And when you are called to walk with those whose burdens are heavy you will find yourself sharing that heaviness. This also includes the cost of building a close enough relationship with them to be able to do this.

You will find this type of ministry does not add to your burdens; it multiplies them. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ (Galatians 6.2).

          Lastly, we suffer when we must part from those we have grown close to in serving the Lord. We see this clearly in Acts 20 as Paul takes leave of the Ephesian pastors. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. You only experience this if you have given your heart away to others in your service for Him. But if you do, the ties that bind you are tightly wound indeed, and severing them, either in parting or in death, is most painful.

          Again, let me be clear. You can avoid all of this if you will just be a carnal Christian. You can probably avoid most of this if you will just be a plateaued Christian. Even if you have served the Lord long and well you can lay most of this aside if you will just quit.

          There are other things you will avoid too. You will miss out on growing close to the Lord, the deep blessing of knowing you are a blessing, the joy there is in serving Jesus, the warm and committed relationships you build with others as you serve the Lord alongside of them, seeing the Lord turn evil into good, and glorifying God. Count the cost, yes. And make sure you count what you buy with that cost too.

          Thirty-six years ago this summer at a Christian camp in southern Ohio I put my hand up and said, “I’m willing to pay.” Pay I have for these thirty-six years. And I would make the same decision over again in a heartbeat.

          There is deep suffering in serving the Lord by serving people. And there is deeper joy and blessing.

          So count the cost.