Christ Suffered, So Will Christians

Is Christianity meant to be an easy life with few problems? Is suffering proof that you aren’t a true Christian? Or is suffering a part of Christianity?

There is a belief in both society and religion that suggests life is meant to be essentially trouble-free. This philosophy has different but similar expressions, such as:

• If one is a “good” person, everything will work out okay.
• If one is faithful, he will prosper and have good health.
• If one stays positive and happy, she will automatically receive blessings.

But is this line of thinking—often called the “health and wealth” gospel—biblical? Can a Christian expect to avoid suffering just because he or she is a Christian?

The Bible on suffering

The Bible actually paints a different picture of how God works.

The Bible tells us that “all things work together for good to those who love God,” (Romans 8:28). But does that mean that nothing bad will ever happen in our physical lives? That is not what this scripture or the Bible actually says. We are simply assured that, in the long run, everything will work out.

The health and wealth gospel, also referred to as the prosperity gospel, is a popular teaching that twists the true gospel message that Jesus brought (Mark 1:14-15). It takes the emphasis off of the future Kingdom of God and puts it on what human beings can “get” now.

We are told that what we sow, we will reap—so cause and effect is a principle that affects all people, even Christians (Galatians 6:7). Since we are not perfect yet, we will make mistakes and suffer the consequences of those mistakes.

Learning in suffering

God does want us to “prosper in all things and be in good health” (3 John 1:2). Christ Himself proclaimed that He had come so that we could have life “more abundantly” (John 10:10). Yet such a life is not always what people think it is. It does not mean a life where everything is perfect and we never face hardships.

The book of Job is a fascinating book. It reveals a man striving to live righteously (Job 1:8). Yet Job’s life is fraught with so much suffering that at one point he says, “Man is born to trouble!” (Job 5:7). 

By the end of the book we see that this righteous man was forever changed by suffering. God used suffering in Job’s life to teach him. Job learned through his suffering.

And so did Jesus Christ. Christ was perfect, “yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). That is incredibly difficult for our finite minds to comprehend since Jesus Christ always obeyed His Father and did what was pleasing to Him, all the way to death.  

Jesus Christ set the perfect example for Christians, and Jesus Christ suffered. If we carry His name and claim to be Christians, who are we to say we won’t also suffer? God allowed His Son to die a brutal, unfair death for all of mankind. If God allowed His only Son to suffer and if He wants us to be like Jesus Christ, then we must be willing to humble ourselves and go through suffering when God allows it.

The truth behind suffering

As we have seen, sometimes bad things do happen to people striving to do good.

Health and financial blessings certainly come to Christians in time—God’s time. Giving to one’s church to get blessed is wrong. According to the Bible, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Christians should give for the sake of giving.

Parents do not grant every request from their children; they deny those requests that would not be good for them. So why would Christians expect that a loving God and Father would give everything they request? Jesus Christ Himself said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15). 

For anyone wishing to be a true follower of Christ, the Bible plainly states, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). That is not to say that the Christian life is all about suffering; that, too, is false! Living the Christian life brings blessings and challenges; the key is to seek God’s will, as Jesus Christ did, during each life chapter.  

Christ suffered. Christians will suffer too. The question is, will you learn from your suffering?

John Fox and his wife Lynn live in Salt Lake City, Utah. He enjoys history and weightlifting and writes on a variety of topics. He has attended the Church of God since his teens.