Suffering

Matthew 16:21-28

I was recently in a very spirited discussion about suffering with some colleagues that centered around a simple question: is suffering redemptive in and of itself? That is, should we celebrate suffering because it results in growth or wisdom? Should we embrace and valorize the kind of suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross, slowly suffocating as he was crucified?

Is suffering necessary, and thus we should see people who are suffering as heroic because of their suffering?

This question leads into some really challenging waters, especially when we as Christians ponder the role of Christ's crucifixion to our own atonement and justification of sin. Should we celebrate suffering because of where it can lead us? If so, what the heck do we do with trauma?

Valorizing suffering happens all the time in popular christianity. I am currently reading a book by Charles Kiser and Elaine Heath entitled "Trauma-informed Evangelism" and this quote from the book stands out to me: “Any faithful theological reflection about the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection must reckon with this problem of the valorization of suffering, sacrifice, and trauma.”

Some might say that if we believe in the redemption that came from Christ's crucifixion, then we must valorize suffering. For this approach, it was the extent of Christ's suffering that was indicative of Christ's love for us and the power of God's forgiveness of our sins was related to the intensity of violence and pain inflicted upon Jesus. And thus we have movies like Passion of the Christ, theologies that require us to believe in a wrathful God whose wrath being assuaged enables our sins to be justified and a faith story that requires violence in order to be a redemptive story.

I was raised with this kind of theology. But today I struggle with it. And it makes me want to reexamine how we can interpret Jesus' words in Matthew 16, where he says, "“If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?"

I don't know if it's sufficient, or even moral, to read this passage and think, "Well, the more miserable I am must mean that I am closer to Jesus." Or that we must look at every instance of human suffering and talk ourselves out of trying to do something about it because the suffering soul is "taking up their cross and denying themselves."

Being miserable and suffering for the sake of suffering miserably in order to be saved sounds like putting our salvation in the hands of our own works, rather than believing in grace through faith: faith that God desires us to flourish and to live abundantly and to "cry no more" (Revelation 21:4)!

And yet at the same time suffering is an inevitable part of life. And suffering can result in redemption. And Jesus *was* talking about crucifixion when he said his words to the disciples. Jesus could see the writing on the wall because right after he said those words to his disciples he started telling them that his time would come to be crucified in Jerusalem!

The question I am exploring this week is simple but complicated: is suffering in and of itself redemptive, or can suffering be an invitation that invites us to the liberation and transformation God desires for us? Instead of valorizing suffering, what if we valorized the strength and courage it takes to turn suffering into wisdom and peace?