This article is taken from a leaflet that was compiled from a series of lectures that Chinese author and bible teacher Watchmen Née gave to a group of Christian workers. Each chapter highlights a character quality that a Christian worker must have to be effective in serving the Lord well. As I discussed suffering in my Sunday school class this week and my pastor also spoke on the topic of suffering I thought it timely to share these thoughts with you from Watchmen Nee. Enjoy.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 4:1; 2 Samuel 23:14-17; Revelation 2:10.
Every Christian worker should have a mind to suffer. In 1 Pet. 4:1 we read this word: “Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind.” A right mentality in relation to suffering is an essential part of every Christian worker’s equipment.
There is a certain widely accepted school of thought which maintains that every form of enjoyment militates against spiritual development. We emphatically reject this philosophy, for God’s own Word declares that the portion of His people is a blessed portion. In the eighty-fourth psalm we read: “The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from themthat walk uprightly”; and the very familiar twenty-third psalm says: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Throughout the entire Bible the Lord’s loving shepherd-care is clearly portrayed, and all through the Scriptures we see Him faithfully watching over His own, delivering them out of their distresses, and always making a distinction between His people and the nations. Even while His chosen people sojourned in Egypt He singled out for peculiar blessing that section of the land where they dwelt.
On the other hand, God does not exempt His children from trial or chastisement; indeed, trial and chastisement are necessary to secure their growth to maturity. But what we wish to call attention to here is an aspect of suffering frequently referred to in the Word of God which is the deliberate choice of those of His children whose consuming desire is to be of service to Him. It is not something imposed upon them to which they reluctantly submit, but something they willingly choose.
David’s three mighty men need not have exposed themselves to danger in order to get him a drink of water; but when they heard him express the longing for a draught from the well of Bethlehem, they endangered their lives and broke through the ranks of the Philistine host in order to satisfy his desire. (See 2 Sam. 23-14-17.)
There is much suffering that we can avoid if we wish; but if we are to be of use to the Lord, it is a fundamental necessity that we make deliberate choice of the path of suffering for His sake. Unless we acquire a disposition to suffer for Him, the work we do will be of a very superficial quality.
What do we mean when we speak of having a mind to suffer? In the first place, let us clearly differentiate between suffering and a mind to suffer. To have a mind to suffer implies that we have willingly chosen the path of suffering for Christ’s sake; it means that we have a heart to endure affliction on His behalf. The question is not one of the amount of suffering we may be called upon to meet, but of our attitude toward the suffering we meet.
For instance, the Lord may have placed you in circumstances where you are provided with food and clothing and a nicely furnished home. It does not follow, if you have chosen to suffer for His sake, that you cannot continue to enjoy all the gifts He has given you. The question is not: Are your external circumstances hard or easy, but: Is your heart-attitude a settled one to endure hardship for His sake? Suffering may not be your daily portion, but you must daily be prepared to suffer.
Alas! the rank and file of Christians, and many Christian workers too, seem to go on splendidly as long as circumstances are propitious, but the moment any affliction befalls them they come to a halt. The trouble is, they are not inwardly prepared to suffer. If it is a settled matter that we have willingly accepted the way of suffering for the sake of our Lord, then trial never takes us unawares. If He cares to grant us respite from suffering, that is His affair; but on our part we are always ready to meet it. Whenever it comes we accept it as a matter of course; and because we do not think it strange, we are not tempted to deviate from the path, but forge straight ahead.
Note carefully what Peter says: “As Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind.” Have you taken note that the mind to suffer is a piece of armor? It is an item of our equipment for spiritual warfare that renders the devil impotent when he attacks us at any vulnerable point. If we lack this bit of armor we are unfit for the conflict.
There are some Christians who endure suffering, but they have no conception of the preciousness of the suffering that is their lot. They go through it without any sense of gratitude to the Lord and only hope for the day when they will be delivered out of it. They do not heartily accept affliction, but regard it as something deplorable that has to be endured. Their attitude betrays the fact that they lack the mind to suffer.
Brothers and Sisters, if in times of prosperity you have not a mind to suffer, then when adversity overtakes you, you will be unable to continue serving the Lord; but if you are armed with the determination to suffer for His sake, you will go steadily on whatever befalls you. Do not take for granted when you are bearing affliction that you are suffering for the Lord’s sake. The question is not: How much suffering have you been through? But, To what extent have you rejoiced in the suffering? It is possible for us to suffer a great deal of heartache and a great deal of hardship without having the will to suffer.
The will to suffer is something deeply inward. Let us get quite clear on this point that it is very possible to have a heart to suffer and yet have no material hardship, and that it is equally possible to go through much material hardship without having a heart to suffer. If Christians were all offered the option to suffer or not to suffer, many would most definitely choose exemption from suffering, and that for the simple reason that they lack the desire to suffer for their Lord. Any Christian worker in whose life there is this inward lack will always be praying for prosperous circumstances in order to make headway with the work.
There is little sign of hardship in the circumstances of some of God’s children while others are obviously in great straits. We would naturally conclude that the latter would know His grace in fuller measure than the former and would have a richer spiritual ministry. As a matter of fact, the reverse often holds good; and when we look closely into the situation we discover that though the latter are suffering, they lack the mind to suffer and would escape their trials at the first possible moment. Their suffering is profitless; they learn nothing through it.
One of the difficulties we are liable to meet in the work is financial straitness. At times it seems as though the Lord has made inadequate provision for us and we decide we cannot carry on. How must the Lord feel about such reactions? Have you ever heard Him ask you: What are you serving Me for? Oh, this question often finds us out! What servant of Christ can stipulate that he will go to work if the sun shines, but will stay at home if it rains?
If you have a right mentality about suffering, then nothing will daunt you. You will dare to defy circumstances; you will defy physical infirmity; you will defy death; you will even defy the hosts of darkness. But if you have not cultivated this disposition you will give way to fear in the face of difficulty; and if you harbor fear you will fall an easy prey to the enemy. He will put upon you the very thing you fear, and you will be vulnerable to his assaults because your mind is not safeguarded by the determination to suffer in the flesh even as Christ suffered. Shall we say to Him: “By the constraint of Your love and the enabling of Your grace, whatever the consequences, I am committed to Your service”?
The Christian should not invite trouble or go out in search of it, but when he encounters it he should do so with a mind already made up to endure it gladly for the Lord’s sake. For instance, if you are physically weak you naturally need a more comfortable bed than a strong person; but if when you go out to work for the Lord you make up your mind that you must have a comfortable bed, you will be vulnerable to the enemy at that point.
On the other hand, if you have a mind to suffer for His sake but find that you have been provided with a comfortable bed, there is no virtue in going out of your way to harden yourself by sleeping on the floor. Do not imagine that Christians who live in unfavorable circumstances will as a matter of course be better able to endure hardness than those who live in more favorable circumstances. It is only those who, whatever their circumstances — favorable or unfavorable — have committed themselves to the Lord and have armed themselves with a mind to suffer, who will be able to endure in the day of testing. A brother accustomed to comfort who has had a definite transaction with the Lord, and has a mind to suffer for His sake, will have far greater power of endurance than anyone accustomed to hardship who has not armed himself with this mind.
If this question is not deliberately settled your weakness will be found out one day, and in that day you will give way to self-pity. On a certain occasion a sister, who had been serving the Lord for years, came upon another sister shedding copious tears in a bout of self-pity, and she asked her: “Who are you shedding these tears for?” Many Christians who have a measure of endurance collapse when they meet the crucial test because they have not taken the precaution to arm themselves as God in His Word has enjoined, and in the hour when they are found wanting their pride is wounded and the tears of self-pity begin to flow.
The question naturally arises: To what extent should we be prepared to suffer? “Be faithful unto death,” says the Word of God (Rev. 2:10). You say that there is a danger of becoming extremists. That is so; but if you have armed yourself with the mind to suffer you will not always be trying to keep the happy medium. You can safely leave it to the Lord and to His Church to preserve the balance if you are in danger of losing it. You make it your business to commit yourself to Him to suffer to the death if He so requires, and He will make it His business to guard you from extremes. If you are always wondering how far you should go in this matter of suffering, you will never go very far; you will be tricked into letting the work suffer to preserve your own life.
The mind to suffer is not a wishy-washy idea; it is something virile that enables us to say to the Lord, “Yes Lord, even unto death. My life is at Your disposal to do with it whatever may seem good to You.” God needs servants who mean business with Him and who will not hesitate to give up their all, and life itself, for His sake. Let us be done with all our careful calculations and this crippling fear of going to extremes, and let us transact with the Lord to serve Him at all costs “even unto death.”
It is recorded in Rev. 12:11 of the overcomers: “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb; and they loved not their life even unto death.” If you fulfill the same conditions, Satan’s assaults against you will be futile. He is impotent to overcome anyone who does not seek to preserve his own life. Satan scoffed at the idea that Job could possibly serve God without any desire for self-preservation, so he said to God: “All that a man has will he give for his life. But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face” (Job 2:4, 5). Satan knew he could overcome Job if Job had the slightest self-interest, so he made a plea for permission to test him out. The record in the book of Job, like that in the book of Revelation, shows Satan’s impotence to overcome those who completely disregard their own lives. There is a limit to our suffering, but may there be no limit to our will to suffer! If there is any limit there, Satan will sooner or later put us out of commission.
May I ask: Is it the preservation of our lives that matters or the preservation of the Lord’s work? Is it the saving of souls that matters or is it the saving of our lives? Which is more important, to safeguard our personal interests or to safeguard the Lord’s testimony on the earth?
Oh, that we one and all might shake off our love of self and respond to the Lord as He freshly challenges us to serve Him in utter abandonment to His interests! If our abandonment to Him is complete, we shall then know the completeness of His blessing.