The Early Church Expected Suffering, Not Celebrated It

We have made suffering into something it was never meant to be. We have turned it into a problem to be solved, an obstacle to be removed, a thing that should not happen to believers. We have taken the promises of God and twisted them into a guarantee of comfort in this life.

But the early church did not think this way. The early church expected suffering. Not because they were weird. Not because they were morbid. But because they read the same Bible we read and understood what it actually said.

This is not about celebrating suffering. This is about understanding what the normal Christian life actually looks like, according to Scripture, not according to our culture of comfort.

The Words That Should Remind Us

Turn with me to Acts. The early church is just getting started, and look what happens:

The question was: Why do you test God? Why do you put a yoke on their necks that we were never able to bear?

This was the argument. Not about suffering. About law. But the principle is the same. The early church knew that the Christian life was not easy. They knew it was not comfortable. They knew it required something from them.

And then there is the letter that went out to the churches:

It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. Not to make it easy. Not to make it comfortable. But to make it possible.

This is what the early church understood. The Christian life is not about comfort. It is about obedience. It is about following Jesus, who said take up your cross daily.

The Letter to the Hebrews

And then there is Hebrews, written to believers who were being persecuted, who were suffering, who were thinking of giving up:

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

That is the reality check. That is what the writer is saying. You think your suffering is hard? Consider Him. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

This is not minimizing suffering. This is putting it in perspective. This is saying: You think this is hard? Followers of Jesus have always suffered. It is the normal Christian life.

And then there is this:

You accepted with joy the seizure of your property.

Not because they were crazy. Not because they did not care. But because they knew something we have forgotten. They knew they had a better and an enduring possession. They knew that what they had on earth was temporary, and what was coming was forever.

They accepted the suffering because they understood what they were gaining.

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

And then there is Paul, writing to the Philippians about the goal of the Christian life:

The fellowship of His suffering.

Paul wanted to know the fellowship of His suffering. Not avoid it. Not be delivered from it. Know it. Participate in it. Be conformed to His death.

This is the opposite of what we are taught today. We are told to claim the promises, claim the healing, claim the prosperity. Paul wanted to share in the suffering.

And listen to what he says to Timothy:

All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

All. Will. Suffer. Persecution.

Not might. Not maybe. Will. It is not a question of if. It is a question of when and how.

This is the early church understanding. This is what they expected. This is what we have forgotten.

The Inversion We Have Made

So what happened? How did we go from expecting suffering to celebrating comfort? How did we go from the fellowship of His suffering to the pursuit of prosperity?

I think it happened gradually. It happened as we became more comfortable. It happened as we forgot what the early church knew. It happened as we made the gospel about this life instead of the next life.

We took the promises of God and made them about comfort in this life instead of glory in the next life. We took the hope of heaven and made it about health and wealth here. We took the cross and made it about a crown without the suffering.

But the early church knew better. They knew that the Christian life was hard. They knew that following Jesus cost something. They knew that the road was narrow and the gate was small.

To whom shall we go?

That is the question. Not: Where is my comfort? Not: Where is my healing? Not: Where is my prosperity?

But: To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

The early church chose suffering and Jesus over comfort and the world. That is the difference. That is what we have lost.

The Question That Matters

So let me ask you: What have you expected from the Christian life? Have you expected comfort? Have you expected ease? Have you expected that following Jesus would make your life better in this life?

If so, you are reading the wrong book. You are following the wrong Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible calls you to take up your cross. The Jesus of the Bible says you will have tribulation. The Jesus of the Bible says all who live godly will suffer persecution.

That does not mean God does not care. That does not mean He does not comfort. That does not mean He does not heal. But it means the Christian life is not about comfort in this life. It is about glory in the next.

This is not about celebrating suffering. This is about understanding the normal Christian life.

The early church did not suffer because they wanted to. They suffered because they followed Jesus. And following Jesus has always cost something.

The question is not whether you will suffer. The question is whether you will follow anyway. The question is whether, when the suffering comes, you will still say: Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life.

That is what the early church knew. That is what we have forgotten. And that is what we need to remember again.