Can you quantify the amount of suffering humans experience?
Forgive me if it feels like I’m beating a dead horse (or bat?) here but the past month has been unprecedented. The way this global pandemic is affecting the church has spurred so many new (all mostly helpful) perspectives about the intersection of our faith and the world. And our perspective on suffering might be one of the most important and all-encompassing. So, to the question above . . . is it even possible? Can we say with utmost certainty that humans alive today are experiencing a quantifiable degree of more suffering than they were before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic?
At first glance we might answer that last question with a resounding “Yes, of course!” Millions of people have lost their jobs, families are losing loved ones, people are experiencing anxiety and fear, front-line workers are being pushed to their limits.
Isn’t it obvious?
It’s obvious, now.
And maybe that’s why we would say humans are suffering more, now. The truth is there’s always suffering, but have we just been oblivious to it?
Some thoughts on how we deal with suffering:
Whether it’s intentional or not, we don’t do a great job of recognizing the suffering of our brothers and sisters. We’ve all been there. Sometimes we’re actually afraid of having some of those feelings of despair and sorrow rub off on us. Yet, the best way to care for someone who’s suffering is to sit with them . . . to meet them in the midst of their suffering. Instead, we say a prayer from a distance (not knocking prayer) or we “give them space.” But, are we willing to weep with them? Are we willing to feel their pain? Before you call this overly-emotional, just remember what Jesus did. On the cross He bore all our sickness, sin, disease, and pain. Incorrectly, we sometimes take that and use it as an excuse to avoid addressing the reality of sicknesses, and sins, and diseases, and sufferings. One of the most overlooked comforts of the cross is to know that Jesus experienced what we experience in our sufferings, even to a greater degree. He identifies with our suffering, and that transforms our perspective. It creates Hope. So by sitting with someone who is suffering and seeking to identify with their pain, we are being Christ-like to them.
This pandemic has spurred a lot of thoughts about God and His sovereignty. Did God bring this disease upon the world to teach us a lesson? At first thought we might say absolutely not. But when we look at Exodus we see God bringing plagues upon a nation. The important distinction is that in Exodus, God was rescuing His people. So it’s right to say that God could do this, but Jesus himself makes a clear statement to show that God wouldn’t do this:
“Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:2-5
We are eternal beings. We were created to live forever. Life here on earth is simply not ‘the point.’ That sounds harsh, but what Jesus is saying here [“But unless you repent, you too will all perish”] is that the eternal perishing of Hell is far worse than any suffering here on earth, but if our hope is firmly rooted in the cross and the hope of Heaven, then we can rest knowing that the eternal joy we experience there will far outweigh the temporary pain and suffering we experience here.
Remember to join us this Sunday at 8:30am online for CHURCH AT HOME Vol. 6!
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