But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. (1 Peter 4:15-16)
Suppose a man murders a bunch of people. He steals their belongings and burns down their houses. The police hunts him down and arrests him. He is sentenced to death. Then he makes a grandiose declaration of his faith in God. He recites verses from the Bible about suffering and applies them to himself. He affirms that God is sovereign and has a purpose for his suffering, and that God is with him in his trouble.
You would answer, “The Bible never instructed him to do those things. In fact, the Bible forbids murder and theft. He is suffering because he is a criminal, a thief, and a murderer. God does not honor this kind of suffering. He is not suffering as a Christian. He is suffering as an evildoer.” This man is delusional. It is obvious. But a similar kind of delusion is held by the vast majority of people who call themselves Christians. Faithless religionists teach this as their orthodoxy. Faithless suffering, foolish and unnecessary suffering, is the lifeblood of their doctrine and worship.
Peter said, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” Not all suffering is the same. Not all suffering is virtuous. Not all suffering is good. He was writing to Christians, yet he still made this distinction. Just because you call yourself a Christian does not mean that whatever you experience is because you are a Christian. If you call yourself a Christian and you rob a bank, then you will suffer because you are a criminal, not because you are a Christian, if you are a Christian at all.
There are many other things you can do that could invite suffering that has nothing to do with being a Christian. Peter said that one might suffer as a meddler. Many people think that they are spiritual and cultural warriors, but they are nothing more than meddlers. They use the name of Jesus not for preaching the gospel and healing the sick, but as a platform for their political activism and cultural agenda.
Often, they do not even mention the name of Jesus and the doctrines of the gospel. Rather, they imagine what policies and behaviors ought to be enforced given their supposedly Christian beliefs, and then they promote those policies and behaviors instead of the Christian beliefs. They imagine that if you follow Jesus, then you must do certain things and must not do certain things. Instead of focusing their efforts to preach Jesus so that people will naturally do those things and avoid the other things, they rebuke the people directly concerning these things.
They lobby for legislations for enforcement. They preach about the politicians that would help pass the policies. They denounce those that resist their efforts. Instead of talking about God and Scripture, they talk about politicians and celebrities. Instead of preaching about doctrines, they preach about policies. They think they are serving God and attacking Satan, but Satan has deceived them. Satan has already won and made them his puppets.
Christians hear more about what the politicians are doing and what the unbelievers are thinking than the wonders of God and the doctrines of Christ. Satan has tricked them into doing activism, not ministry. Activism deals only with symptoms. It cannot touch the hearts of men. For this reason, Satan encourages it, because it gives people the illusion of laboring for righteousness when all the effort and sacrifice are futile. Jesus said, “For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” They want people to see them as prophets, but they are just meddlers.
When they suffer opposition, that is not persecution for their faith. They are not suffering for Jesus, but for their personal beliefs and actions while calling themselves Christians. They suffer because they are using carnal methods and are being obnoxious people. They are meddlesome people. Even I think they should be persecuted and silenced, so that I will not be associated with such people when I preach Jesus Christ. If a man calls himself a Christian and commits murder, then I would want him to be apprehended, so that people would not think that I am a murderer or that I endorse murder when I promote the gospel. Likewise, if a man is more of a meddler and activist than a Christian, I am not very concerned if he is stopped. Sometimes those people annoy me more than they annoy the non-Christians.
They do not use spiritual weapons, but carnal weapons. They rely on the same methods and resources that the unbelievers use, only that they promote different beliefs and values. These are supposedly Christian beliefs and values, but in reality they are the political implications of their beliefs, and not the supposedly Christian beliefs themselves. In any case, this approach has never worked, and it will never work. Even if the values they promote are correct, it will convince no one, it has no power to change hearts, and it will only make them a nuisance.
Then when Christians bring the true message of the gospel, they face greater resistance, because the unbelievers think that they are like the other people who called themselves Christians, but who were nothing more than meddlers. Christians who are using spiritual methods and bringing a message that can truly save the world must now work against the resentment that has been accumulated against those other so-called Christians who have used carnal methods to advance their political and cultural values. They thought they were prophets who held up the banner of Christ, but they were prophets of their own political and cultural agenda, and who hardened people’s hearts against Christ.
Faithless religion is the root of delusional suffering. Religious meddlers are one product of faithless religion. This is because faithless religion is a form of religion without the power. When the power of faith and the Holy Spirit have disappeared, the power of the flesh and the devil are embraced the fill the void. If you can preach and prophesy with miraculous power, and if you can heal the sick, cast out demons, and speak in tongues, then you would do these things. But if you have no faith to do these things, and if your faithless religion condemns these things, then you will need to lobby and meddle to produce any effect.
Delusional suffering is the lifeblood of the historic religion of human orthodoxy. It is a version of counterfeit Christianity that honors the works of Christ with the mouth, but resents the promises of God in the heart. The Faithless preach Jesus with much gusto, but they condemn his ongoing works of healing, prophecy, and other blessings among his people. They condemn Jesus for baptizing his people with the Holy Spirit and miracle power after they have received salvation by faith. They preach democracy as if it is the covenant of God, but they condemn Jesus for enabling all his people to perform miracles, to speak in tongues, and to receive visions and dreams. They preach capitalism as if it is a divine revelation and commandment, but they condemn receiving healing and prosperity from God by faith.
So freedom can come from our votes, but not from God’s power. Health and wealth can come from human development, but not from faith in God. In fact, they make it sound heretical and unspiritual to believe in God for health and wealth and miracles. But they strive to make their own miracles, so to speak, by faithless methods. When they inevitably fail and suffer, they hail themselves as heroes. Yet they insist Christians agree with them and live like them. They abuse Scripture the same way that a murderer and rapist would who applies biblical verses about suffering to himself. They are religious hypocrites, the worst kind of scum. They are human garbage.
They lecture Christians to accept suffering, but they are the ones who inflict suffering on Christians who have faith in God to remove suffering. Even murderers, thieves, and meddlers do not necessarily target Christians, but faithless religionists make it their mission to target Christians who believe and obey the teachings of Scripture to remove suffering by teaching, intercession, and working miracles, following the example Jesus. The Faithless suffer defeat due to their lack of faith, but they honor themselves as spiritual heroes. Instead of refusing the bondage of Satan, they regard such suffering as a gift of God. They refuse to enter into the blessings of God, and they forbid others to enter.
One pastor declared, “Don’t waste your cancer.” He claimed that the suffering could be a gift from God to promote humility and growth. This reeks of privilege. He had thousands of people to support and encourage him. He surrounded himself with famous friends and colleagues. He had stable financial resources and the backing of an institution.
Many people live from paycheck to paycheck, and barely have enough for their daily necessities. A health emergency could devastate the entire family, deplete their savings, plunge them into heavy debt, deprive the children of a decent life and education, and inflict other disastrous and enduring effects. Others have no friends and no families. They are destitute and lonely. When they are stricken with a terminal disease, they do not have anyone to say an encouraging word to them. You answer, “Even when there is no one else, they can turn to God.” True! But the preachers tell them that God is the one who has done this to them in the first place. Without a miracle, they are destined to suffer a painful and degrading death, with no one to bury them or even remember them. Then they hear a pastor smugly lecture them about how much of a gift this is, and they become hateful toward God and toward Christians.
What a cruel theology this person preaches. What a self-righteous piece of garbage. He lacked even a superficial compassion that an unbeliever would feel toward suffering humanity. He is not qualified to be a good friend, let alone a spiritual leader and teacher. And he is only one example among thousands upon thousands of religious charlatans. Jesus stood in direct opposition to this approach. When Jesus saw sickness, he obliterated it. And then, the people experienced intense and lasting humility, gratitude, and growth.
Other faithless people will use different words and slogans to push suffering on you, but it is the same scam. You can be free from the kinds of suffering that the Faithless want you to embrace. If you submit to suffering that you do not need to endure, then you have been scammed. You have been scammed by preachers and traditions, and scammed by Satan. Jesus Christ shows you the truth. You do not have to suffer things that you can overcome by faith. You do not have to suffer things that Christ suffered in your place. You do not have to suffer things that God has destroyed at the root.
The Bible says that Jesus took our infirmities and carried our sicknesses. This ought to settle it. This ought to decide forever how we should think about sickness and healing and miracles. But preachers and theologians will say this thing that Jesus removed is supposed to be the gift of God. Jesus carried away the gift of God! They appeal to the will of God, as if we ought to allow anything that happens to remain as it is, but Jesus performed the will of God by healing the sick and casting out demons. To teach against healing by faith and to refuse to pray for the sick is to oppose the will of God. The same people will encourage you to visit medical doctors and seek a cure, but they will condemn your faith if you seek a miracle of healing from God.
Why do they teach something like this? It is because they have no faith to receive from God, and they cannot help you experience what God has provided for his people, but they still wish to present themselves as spiritual leaders who are full of faith and holiness, so that they can receive honor from you and rule over you. They are corrupt and disgusting. They are self-righteous and self-serving. They don’t care about what God says, and they don’t care about you. They just want you to think they care. Crush the Faithless under your feet. Defy them. Expose them. Excommunicate them. Cast them out of your life as if you would cast out any demon from hell. Leave this kind of religion forever.
Jesus dedicated a disproportionate amount of his time removing physical suffering and restoring physical comfort to people, and he did it by supernatural power. This is the same power that all of his disciples can wield by faith in the name of Jesus. Then a whole other dimension of power is added to anyone who also receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has never stopped performing miracles and healing people. He said that he would perform even greater miracles through those who have faith in him.
Almost none of the suffering is necessary or honorable in many areas of the world. Most of the suffering is evil, degrading, and dishonoring to God. In societies where Christianity has significant foothold, if certain unbelievers harass you for your faith, you can even walk away and shut them out of your personal life. It is asinine to become restless and apply biblical verses about suffering to sickness and poverty, and other things that we ought to overcome by faith in God.
Faithless people will try to scam you. They will convince you to suffer. And those who preach suffering are often the same ones who cause the suffering. They are the ones who harass those who refuse to suffer silly and stupid things. When you know their motives and strategies, and when you know the truth about Jesus, you can refuse their scams. Persist in faith. Refuse to suffer. Refuse to suffer silly, stupid things. Refuse to suffer things that God can remove from your life when you have faith in him. Refuse to suffer things that God can protect you from when you have knowledge of the truth.
Refuse to suffer. Put up your faith against it. Refuse to suffer anything unless the word of God commands you to suffer it. The preacher will tell you to suffer and beautify it. He will make it sound spiritual and romantic. Well, if he likes it so much, pray that he will receive all the suffering that he preaches at you. If he preaches that cancer is a gift, pray that he will receive the gift. If he suffers stupid and unnecessary things and boasts about it, pray that he will receive much more of what he is so proud of. As God said, “I will do to you the very things I heard you say.” Tell him, “Pastor, may God do to you everything that you have said.” If he truly believes that diseases and tragedies are gifts from God, then he should welcome this. As for you, refuse to suffer any of it. They have made life and faith and suffering into a religious game. Refuse to play.
The religion of suffering is designed to distance you from God and the redemption of Christ, and to take away your abilities and resources to invest in the gospel. On the other hand, the religion of Jesus Christ might face opposition from those who preach a religion of suffering, but it will also overcome those things that Christ has suffered in our place and receive the resources that God has provided in Christ Jesus. Have faith in God. Receive blessings and miracles from him. As God helps you make progress, invest in the gospel in various ways so that the domain of Christ can also make progress. And then we can work to remove suffering and bring salvation to other parts of the world.