faith for faith

Muslim Extremists Murder Christian Family in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – On September 28, Muslim extremists charged into the home of Christian lawyer and evangelist Edwin Paul and brutally murdered him, his wife, and his five children who were of the ages 6-17. His crime? For taking the legal case of Robin Mehboob, a Christian taxi driver, who received a hike in interest rate of a small loan (the equivalent of $1,725) from the original terms of 400% to 500% from a lender backed by Muslim extremists. The exorbitant interest rates, whether from the original terms or after, were based solely on the fact that Mehboob was a Christian.

Upon filing the claim, representatives of the lender went to Paul’s home, railing against him, “How dare you Christians go to the police; don’t you know we own the law here?” Upon that, Mehboob testifies, “They assaulted us, beating us with fists and clubs, and warned that if we try to seek any assistance, they will kill us.” Mehboob fled to his brother’s home, and Paul stayed at his home, pursuing the case of his Christian brother. Shortly thereafter, the same men returned and killed Paul, his wife, and his five children.

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It is a great pity the yoke that the legalists and self-righteous have often put upon those who are going through times of suffering and hardship. They are precisely like the religious “friends” of Job, who, when God had in his good pleasure smote Job, circled around him like vultures seeking to pick the depths of his heart for some sin so that they could explain his sufferings according to their works-based theology. However, after God was pleased to remove his hand from the head of the righteous Job, he rebuked those fools who sought to explain the ways of God by the philosophies of men, and he, after sufficiently humbling Job, raised up his righteous servant in renewed splendor.

The case with us who are in Christ is no different than that of Job. Because of what Christ has done upon the cross and because of his righteous life, we who are in him are likewise counted righteous. For this reason, when we suffer as God’s children, it is never because we are being judged for some sin that we may have committed or some duty that we may not have fulfilled, for all of our sins, all of our shortcomings, and all of our judgment has been cast upon Christ fully and finally. Therefore when we suffer, it always has a much grander purpose.

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Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality (Rm. 12:12, 13).

The three–rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer–if any are to be fulfilled in the life of a Christian, each must rest upon the other. For patience in tribulation will not come apart from rejoicing in hope, nor will it come apart from incessant prayer. However, our hope will not come apart from tribulation, for the apostle says earlier in his letter, “We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” (Rm. 5:3-4). And incessant prayer will not come apart from rejoicing in hope and patience in tribulation, for hope and patience are the wellspring of godly supplication. The three are a three-stranded rope, where together the three are strong and stay a Christian’s life, but remove even one, and the others’ strength is diminished.

And when these three are found in the life of the Christian, it overflows practically in the contribution to the needs of the saints and the showing of hospitality. For the one who rejoices in hope of his future Inheritance by necessity does not rejoice in the world’s temporal pleasures and thereby uses his resources for the needs of the saints rather than for worldly gain. Also, the one who is patient in tribulation, because of his own suffering, sympathizes with the plight of his fellow brothers and sisters and seeks to aid them in their need and suffering. And, finally, the one who does not cease to pray to the Lord, is constantly fixed upon doing the will of the Lord, which is to love his brothers and sisters in the same manner that Christ loved him, suffering even unto death for sake of the saints. Each of these–hope, suffering, and incessant prayer–hold the Christian fast and overflow in a wellspring of generosity to the needs of the Church.

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Upon even the most casual of readings of the New Testament, it is impossible to miss the clear reality that those who follow Christ are promised that they will suffer and be despised for following him. These things simply come with the territory. Jesus declares that we who follow him should not to be alarmed at this, for he says, “A servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn. 15:20a). Paul also declares that our suffering is of Providential and salvific necessity, writing, “The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him so that we might also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:17, variation mine). Our suffering and revilement is made to be necessary by our association with Christ and is ordained to be necessary by the nature of the Gospel.

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Away went Earth’s once White & vestal forms—
Defiled—ravished when Sin’s First Seed was sown;
And now, through Pangs She strains—through wars & storms,
Awaiting Him whose Kin bear Hope, She groans;

Not Her alone, but we the Sons of God,
Whose father’s Seed steeps our marrow & bones;
In Christ, we taste Rest on this war-torn Sod,
We taste but faintly, and with Her we groan;

Although in us we find the Spirit’s hand,
We pray not the Objectives of the Throne,
Nor for the Paths of Love the Father’s planned;
Thus for Harmony Divine, the Spirit groans;

Our Good, we know, is our Father’s delight,
And patiently wait till Faith yields to Sight.

~Romans 8:19-28

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:16,17).

Concerning ourselves, there is not a more shocking reality than our adoption as sons into the family of God. While we, in our own imaginations, might contrive a God that would spare us our due penalty out of love or might contrive, as the prodigal son did, a Father who would hire us as a servant out of pity, our adoption by the Father as sons is totally off the radar.

The most significant part of this reality is our adoption as sons. All of the saints of God, regardless of their sex, have been adopted as sons into the family of God. The gender of the phrasing is significant, for our adoption as sons entails an inheritance whereas an adoption as a daughter would not. And this inheritance is no petty inheritance (as if an inheritance from God could ever be!), but is the very inheritance of Jesus Christ, God’s one and true Son! The Apostle writes that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ his Son–the same Son to whom the Father gives the nations as his inheritance in Psalm 2:8. What a glorious thought!

But, the Apostle also writes, “[We are] fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” As glorious a thought being fellow heirs with Christ is, equally sobering should be the phrase, “provided that we suffer with him.” The Apostle says that our sonship and our subsequent inheritance are contingent upon our suffering with Christ in this life. How foreign a concept that is to the American Church!–to us who strive to live our “best lives now” and who try to minimize and eliminate all suffering in our lives.

“What is the nature of this suffering that Paul is writing about?” “How do we suffer with Christ?” These are all valid questions that we need to answer if we desire any amount of surety with regards to our sonship and inheritance, for if we do not suffer with Christ, we have no reason to expect an inheritance. Here are my thoughts on these questions:

Our Sufferings are to be Voluntary and Intentional
I am afraid that the typical American Christian would interpret the sufferings of which the Apostle speaks as strictly those that come upon us for being named with Christ. To that Christian, the sufferings in our cultural context would perhaps fall along the lines of being ridiculed for the Gospel or losing a job for being a Christian–things that are possibilities in America but are not very likely. To him, suffering is a passive thing–something to be endured if encountered but avoided if possible.

I believe however that our sufferings should be, well, more like the sufferings of Christ. In his life, Christ suffered in countless ways. Passively, he was ridiculed and harassed by the Jews who did not believe, but most of his sufferings were sought intentionally. He intentionally deprived himself and became a man; he intentionally humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples; and he intentionally gave himself up to be nailed upon a cross and there intentionally bore our sins. Therefore, if we are to suffer with Christ, we must be intentional about our suffering.

We Suffer with Christ When We Suffer for Our Brothers
Christ said, “Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Our lives, in order to reflect the life of Christ’s, must be a laying of them down for the sake of our friends. We may not ever be called to die in the place of a brother or sister in Christ, but we are all called to regard each other as better than ourselves. I firmly believe that Paul gives so much praise in his letters to the Macedonians because they got this. They understood what it meant to regard their brothers in Christ as better themselves, and they proved it by joyfully giving beyond their means and out of their extreme poverty. They were the epitome of suffering with Christ.

How do we suffer with Christ, or do we at all? Do we intentionally seek to suffer for Christ’s sake, and do we intentionally seek suffering by regarding our brothers and sisters in Christ as better than ourselves? We had better find definite answers to these questions, for our sonship and inheritance are contingent upon them.