Willing to Suffer for Christ

10We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

To truly follow Christ as one set apart for the Gospel is to be willing to suffer for the Gospel. It’s so convenient to work for a large church, to have resources, influence, and even abilities. But it’s much harder to imagine the service required of an apostle. One called out. That’s tough.

To be ridiculed. To be dishonored. To be weak. To be hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, mistreated, homeless. To work hard, to be cursed, persecuted, slandered, considered the scum or refuse of the earth.

Those are extremes. That’s the lowest of the low. It doesn’t get much worse.

Paul is saying that if that’s what is required, he’s up for it. He has seen the risen Christ. He has met the Son of God. He knows the other side. He has seen the creator of Heaven and earth. He knows the truth, the one and only virtuous cause and he is signed on as a warrior on the side of the almighty God.

Men have endured extremes out of loyalty for kings and kingdoms since the beginning of time. They have proven faithful, though the opposition be daunting and the hardships severe. Because they believed in the cause and had ultimate faith in the right of it, they were willing to go through anything for its ultimate victory.

The stories of these heroes are legend. We celebrate them. We are inspired by them.

Paul is saying that the cause of Christ is the greatest. It is the cry of the universe for mercy, met by the cross of Christ in unmerited response.

We are warriors on the side of the only cause. All others are pretenders.

This day we fight.