The Cross-Shaped Life

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”  ~Philippians 1:29

Option one: one million dollars and many friends. Option two: zero dollars and public ridicule. Be honest — would you choose option two? That’s crazy, right? The truth is, if we examined our lives closely, most of us would have to admit we live in pursuit of option one. We want financial stability, many friends, happiness, comfort, leisure, etc. I don’t mean to suggest these things are innately bad. In fact, the Lord has blessed some of His saints with great wealth — Abraham, for example, “was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Gen. 13:2). These things aren’t bad. But they aren’t ultimate. Yet even though they aren’t guaranteed to us, we sometimes wish they were, which is why our failure to lay hold of them often leaves us feeling a bit let down by God.

What if I told you that instead of option one, what’s promised the Christian is to suffer for the sake of Christ — to experience disappointment in relationships, persecution from the world, and in many cases, poverty? Many of you can attest to this reality. You’ve suffered, often in silence, for knowing Christ as Lord and Savior. Family has turned their back on you, co-workers have mocked you, classmates have teased you, opportunities have been taken from you, the list goes on. What may come as a surprise is that this cross-shaped life is not only something to expect, it is a particular kind of gift from God that helps us to loosen our grip on the dream of option one. It helps us to live free of the allure of wealth, popularity, and ease. It reminds us that we have been called to a life of conformity to Christ — not just in holiness, but in suffering and humiliation as well.

That little word in Philippians 1:29, “granted,” is the key to understanding this. The word Paul uses is related to the word we typically see translated as “grace.” There were several words available to Paul to express the idea of something being given, but he chose the word that emphasizes God’s grace in the thing given. And if we examine the text closely, we will see that there are two things we receive as graces from God: our salvation (“you should… believe in him”), and our suffering (“but also suffer for his sake”). How often do we consider the suffering we endure for Christ to be of the same kind of grace as our salvation?

Christian, our lives are cross-shaped not because we sometimes get dealt a bad hand but because God’s grace toward us is to suffer like His Son so that we might be conformed into the image of His Son. What a grace is the cross-shaped life! Let us therefore rejoice when we are counted worthy of suffering for Jesus’ sake (Acts 5:41).  

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor of Teaching & Spiritual Formation