This story is a little bit convoluted but the message is important.
Our son Tommy graduated 8th grade in May of 2007. One of his eighth grade teachers was Tim Bratt. Tim is a solid Christian man who lives his faith. During that year they read The Heavenly Man and discussed and reported on it in class. Tommy had mentioned that he really enjoyed it and got a lot out of it but we didn’t really think much about it and didn’t remember it. As parents we were just glad he was reading… anything.
About a year ago Tim Bratt started attending a men’s Bible study group on Tuesday nights that I have been involved with and attending for quite a few years. At one of the meetings Tim brought along a number of copies of The Heavenly Man and told the group that it was a life-changing book and that it was an important read for every Christian. I was coolly interested and grabbed a copy. It sat on my desk for a number of weeks and Tommy saw it and mentioned again how he liked it. My son Mike heard this and was looking for a book to read so he took it and read it last fall. He was strongly impacted by it and recommended it to us. Sue and I were in other books at the time but Sue started reading it a few weeks before we went on a mission trip to Guatemala in March. She was really excited about it and was sharing with Tommy and Mike as she read it. She had shared with me as well how it was affecting her as she read it. I was supposed to read it after Sue and when she finished it in Guatemala I asked her to give the book to me. She indicated that she felt led to give it to Butch Jarrell, one of the Word of Life missionaries we were traveling with. I suggested against it for two reasons. One, I figured that he’s a missionary and he might not like a book about missionaries. Two, I wanted to read it. Sue felt strongly about it and I did encourage her to give it to him as she felt led. She gave the book to him the next day.
I happened to call Butch several weeks after we returned home and he had just read the book. He was as well strongly affected by it and was so thankful to Sue for giving it to him. I felt guilty for ever thinking that she shouldn’t share it with him. This reinforced that when God speaks to us I guess we should prayerfully listen. Butch told me of how he had connected with others who had also been impacted by the book, and he was going to buy some copies and share it further.
I hadn’t yet read it myself and now I heard the calling, so I went out that very night and bought it. I started reading it Friday night and even with a busy Saturday I read it through to Sunday morning finishing it. I wept twice while reading it and wept as I finished it. These were tears of appreciation and joy. Aside from the Bible this was one of the most important books I’ve read. I’ve ordered multiple copies to share.
Reading The Heavenly Man has made me realize that the type of suffering experienced, the type of miracles God works in the lives of those who are suffering and who trust in Him, and the way God delivers us from our suffering through joy and peace in Him, are all integral parts of the Christian walk. As Peter wrote in 1Peter 4:12: “…do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. “ Now I think I get it!
In the story Brother Yun accepts Christ into his heart at age 16 (1972) through a vision and a miracle in a place where the ‘thoughts of Christ’ were only myths or non-spoken wisps from the past – and a place where it was illegal and taught as antisocial to be religious. He grows up during tumultuous times in China during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and leads a life of a man of God not unlike one of the apostles. His story is incredibly strong and inspiring but as importantly gives many words to the struggles that not only the apostles and the early Church likely went through – but also the struggle that so many developing groups of believers and evangelists have gone through, and are going through even today.
We can even look at the challenges of being in a family of non-believers, dealing with a non-believing spouse, growing up in a home with non-believing parents, accepting Christ and moving away from the ‘family’s religion’, or having a social group around you who are not ‘sold out’ for the Lord. All these and I’m sure many others represent microcosms of the same challenges and persecutions. We must persevere.
We should listen further in 1Peter and carefully hear the clear message that God is giving us to be His ‘stones’ (1Peter2:5). He knows we are having “grief in all kinds of trials” (1Peter 1:6) and “the painful trial you are suffering” (1Peter 4:12). Each era recorded in the Bible shows the way that people who follow after the Lord have to struggle to fit into the world around them. The New Testament along with world history since show how many Christians and Christian groups have had great difficulty fitting into the ways of the world and often they have been ridiculed and persecuted by even their own families for their beliefs.
I find a special joy and peace in this in that, even though I as an individual may have never suffered any severe hardships, I can share in some small way in these trials and sufferings. And this is a privilege! One way we do this is through the adverse experiences we encounter in the name of faith in Jesus Christ in our lives with family, friends, coworkers, and possibly with anyone who we step out and share our faith with. It seems a paradox where at once we are commanded to reach out and at the same time we may find hardship in it, but also joy. Rejoice in this!
The more you single yourself out by following harder in your Christian walk – be it in your family, at work, in your social groups, and even at Church – expect that you will face greater and greater challenges. Satan will try to discourage you and trip you up. Be strong and trust in God. He will carry you through as you surrender to Him. And the joy and peace that is only in Christ will rest in you.
1 Peter 4:12-19
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And,
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Read this carefully. I love the turn of phrase ‘something strange’. It is like asking us “what did you expect of the world?” We are not to live by the “standards of this world” (2Cor 10:2). We need to be “strangers in this world” (1Peter 1:1, 2:11). Again, we can rejoice in the fact that we are being challenged. Prayerfully consider it and make sure that what you are doing is Biblical. Then be confident that you are not only doing the right thing but it reinforces that you are in God’s favor.
Again, I go back to the story about Brother Yun and I see that we are so free to share our faith here. And even though we will be challenged as we do share, it is God’s will that we do and His calling to each one of us as part of our sanctification. Again, it is a privilege that we are left on this earth for some period of time where we can pursue that sanctification. We are all terminal as it relates to this world. We are all eternal as it relates to the next life, good or bad. Pray that God will do a work in you and through you to the aid of those who do not yet know Him. I would encourage all of you, no matter your position, to read this wonderful book and see what messages it has for you. I pray that it encourages you as it has encouraged me.
Let’s Pray…
