The Fellowship of the Suffering of Christ
A reminder to my readers: When making blanket statements about the following groups of people or churches (Mormons or Christians), I’m simply making a generalized statement about the culture, patterns, and traditions of the overall group mentality of people who participate in these mainstream religions. With that said, God looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). There are virtuous and righteous individuals who break toxic cultural norms within both of these religions. I’d encourage everyone to assess the state of their own heart, no matter which religious institution you choose to participate in. And I’d encourage everyone to judge individuals based on their heart and character, not their religious affiliation.
I glance at myself in the mirror and gently pull my unwashed hair out of my face with a large claw clip. I stare at my pale, sullen face, and count the red marks running up my face and forehead. My skin never took these flares well. It still doesn’t. I deeply breathe fresh air into my lungs and ponder the last three days and my tendency to hold my breath through long intervals of intense pain. I spent too much time on this bathroom floor this week, gagging over the toilet and hoping that puking will offer some form of relief. This bathroom floor has witnessed me at my worst, and the walls of this room grieve this pain with me. Every time I do this the flashbacks come in waves. Flashbacks to the time when it was five days of pure agony, without sign of relief. Flashbacks of seizures, screams, and wondering if I was going to live to see tomorrow.
But today is day four now. The pain has subsided besides a dull ache and that deep itch that rests under my skin. And today I get to shower for the first time in four days of illness. And as I run my fingers through my shiny clean hair, I quietly praise God for the gift of being clean again. I cover my blemishes with makeup, and line my dried and cracked lips with chap-stick. Everything from blankets to bed sheets, to bathroom and clothing gets thoroughly washed and deep cleaned on this day. It’s routine. It’s expected. And I move forward, knowing it will come again next month, and praying it won’t.
And although God has already blessed me with leaps and bounds of healing, I beg Him for more. I hope next month I’ll be able to shower on day three. Few blessed times have passed when I could.
I am among the lucky and blessed of the chronically ill. For many never get relief. Many count days for years without any sign of improvement or shimmer of hope for healing. I’ve been running this odd pattern for almost ten years now, and yet I’m greedy for more healing, and desperate for the day the pain will no longer return. My spirit feels hammered after these four days, and yet life continues… as if nothing happened, and nobody knows anything ever did.
But today is day four now. The pain has subsided besides a dull ache and that deep itch that rests under my skin. And today I get to shower for the first time in four days of illness. And as I run my fingers through my shiny clean hair, I quietly praise God for the gift of being clean again. I cover my blemishes with makeup, and line my dried and cracked lips with chap-stick. Everything from blankets to bed sheets, to bathroom and clothing gets thoroughly washed and deep cleaned on this day. It’s routine. It’s expected. And I move forward, knowing it will come again next month, and praying it won’t.
And although God has already blessed me with leaps and bounds of healing, I beg Him for more. I hope next month I’ll be able to shower on day three. Few blessed times have passed when I could.
I am among the lucky and blessed of the chronically ill. For many never get relief. Many count days for years without any sign of improvement or shimmer of hope for healing. I’ve been running this odd pattern for almost ten years now, and yet I’m greedy for more healing, and desperate for the day the pain will no longer return. My spirit feels hammered after these four days, and yet life continues… as if nothing happened, and nobody knows anything ever did.
“Jesus suffered so we don’t have to.”
One of the most toxic phrases in modern Christian culture that easily slipped into Mormon culture shortly thereafter. I have no idea where this phrase originated from since it isn’t found anywhere in scripture, be it canonical or “Mormon” scripture. But I have read this duplicitous phrase in Christian books falsely interpreting scripture, and I’ve seen the fearful fruits of this rhetoric in the faces of many Mormons when they hear the terrors of anyone who may be suffering beyond the daily grind of waking up and going to work at a job they don’t like in the morning.
God’s word has a tendency to offer us a much different perspective on suffering than what the majority of the human race is willing to uncomfortably admit;
“…but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” -1Timothy 1:8-9
Why would Paul express our need for afflictions while shortly thereafter mentioning our “holy calling?” Perhaps because the crux of the gospel has little to do with “church callings” or puffing ourselves up because “we’re chosen” as a result of having faith on His name. Perhaps the holy calling in all of us, is to partake of the afflictions of the gospel that Jesus illustrated for us in his sufferings in Gethsemane and Calvary. Every time we choose to turn our heads from the sufferings of God’s children on this earth right now, are we not turning our heads from the very God we claim to worship? Partaking in the afflictions of the gospel requires us moving into uncomfortable positions and circumstances, of which many will refuse. Yet, God continuously urges us to.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” -Romans 8:16-18
Here, Paul is comparing suffering to glory. How could our ugliest and most embarrassing moments of weakness and distress be attributed to glory in a world that puts so much emphasis on flawless outward appearance? Perhaps the glory Paul is referencing is not of this world, rather the world God creates for and in each of us as we choose to unremittingly follow Him and pursue the life He has outlined for us.
This does not imply instantaneous thriving in the lives we suffer in. Rather, it means that the “opposition in all things” (2Nephi 2:11) will be made known to us. We will not only see blood, darkness, and flying bullets. Rather, amongst the flying bullets, we will also witness miraculous sunbursts, miracles we never could have fathomed before, and peace beyond our own understanding. But first, we must go where the bullets are flying. That hardly means we’re going to take a bloody hit by shaking people’s hands within the four walls of a church on Sunday. Rather, we’ll take the bloody hit by boldly and courageously watching those we love suffer, and choosing to stay in the midst of it.
This is the fellowship of the suffering of Christ: those who suffer, and those who sit with us in the midst of it. And as we cycle through life together, we’ll often find ourselves in both positions of affliction, because both are necessary for our education and progression. This position is ugly. And there will be screams.
One of the most toxic phrases in modern Christian culture that easily slipped into Mormon culture shortly thereafter. I have no idea where this phrase originated from since it isn’t found anywhere in scripture, be it canonical or “Mormon” scripture. But I have read this duplicitous phrase in Christian books falsely interpreting scripture, and I’ve seen the fearful fruits of this rhetoric in the faces of many Mormons when they hear the terrors of anyone who may be suffering beyond the daily grind of waking up and going to work at a job they don’t like in the morning.
God’s word has a tendency to offer us a much different perspective on suffering than what the majority of the human race is willing to uncomfortably admit;
“…but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” -1Timothy 1:8-9
Why would Paul express our need for afflictions while shortly thereafter mentioning our “holy calling?” Perhaps because the crux of the gospel has little to do with “church callings” or puffing ourselves up because “we’re chosen” as a result of having faith on His name. Perhaps the holy calling in all of us, is to partake of the afflictions of the gospel that Jesus illustrated for us in his sufferings in Gethsemane and Calvary. Every time we choose to turn our heads from the sufferings of God’s children on this earth right now, are we not turning our heads from the very God we claim to worship? Partaking in the afflictions of the gospel requires us moving into uncomfortable positions and circumstances, of which many will refuse. Yet, God continuously urges us to.
“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” -Romans 8:16-18
Here, Paul is comparing suffering to glory. How could our ugliest and most embarrassing moments of weakness and distress be attributed to glory in a world that puts so much emphasis on flawless outward appearance? Perhaps the glory Paul is referencing is not of this world, rather the world God creates for and in each of us as we choose to unremittingly follow Him and pursue the life He has outlined for us.
This does not imply instantaneous thriving in the lives we suffer in. Rather, it means that the “opposition in all things” (2Nephi 2:11) will be made known to us. We will not only see blood, darkness, and flying bullets. Rather, amongst the flying bullets, we will also witness miraculous sunbursts, miracles we never could have fathomed before, and peace beyond our own understanding. But first, we must go where the bullets are flying. That hardly means we’re going to take a bloody hit by shaking people’s hands within the four walls of a church on Sunday. Rather, we’ll take the bloody hit by boldly and courageously watching those we love suffer, and choosing to stay in the midst of it.
This is the fellowship of the suffering of Christ: those who suffer, and those who sit with us in the midst of it. And as we cycle through life together, we’ll often find ourselves in both positions of affliction, because both are necessary for our education and progression. This position is ugly. And there will be screams.
Growing up I thought the symbol of the cross was something dirty I shouldn’t be supporting. We were taught in church on Sundays we do not display crosses as a sign of our faith. This instruction from Latter Day Saint leaders left a misinformed mark on the hearts of LDS members, although it is assumed that the absence of focus on the crucifixion is a healthier approach, as it was a heinous and horrific death. And while Mormons may preach over the pulpit at General Conference that we prefer to “take up our cross and carry it.” (Lifted Up upon the Cross, October 2022 General Conference, Jeffery R. Holland) rather than display it in our homes; how would one even begin to know what that means if they can’t take a good, long look at the suffering on that awful cross in Calvary. And why is it okay that we display large, framed pictures of the glorious Mormon temples in our homes as a sign of our faith instead?
This has nothing to do with glorifying a form of murder that can make your stomach churn. Rather, the natural reaction of our stomachs churching should be propelling us to the action God requires of us as His true disciples. This propensity to turn our heads away from the cross has leaked into members of the Mormon church as they so obviously refuse to look suffering of their fellow friends and family members in the face and address it as scripture instructs us to. It has proven to be much easier to only see the grandeur and overwhelming beauty of the temple instead.
Job illustrates people like this in great detail as he describes his friends, Bildad and Eliphaz. Here we find a man suffering on incomprehensible levels, and yet his friends do little to succor this man, if not worsen the matter. In fact, their attempts to offer a false “love” towards him placed Job in a rather provocative position that probably came off as rude and insensitive to his seemingly well-intentioned friends.
“Job called them ‘worthless physicians.’ Today we call such people ‘Job’s comforters’ – a scathing little phrase which by dint of its sheer utility has found a ready niche in our vocabulary. Job’s comforters are those who think that the way to minister to others in need is by straightening them out… Job’s comforters succeed only in twisting the knife in the wound, and if you try to tell them that this is what they are doing to you, they will tactfully remind you that you are the one with the problem… These men are representatives of all the twisted and damaging ‘ministry’ that is carried on in the name of the Lord, yet apart from love, apart from the Holy Spirit.” (Job 13; The Gospel According to Job, Mike Mason, Pg. 149)
How often do Mormons or other Christians settle in to their artificial exterior so habitually that when someone comes along threatening this comfortable exterior shell, we recognize them as dross, and mentally move them into a position of inferiority? It is then this inferior position that causes these same people to over-scrutinize, patronize, and then abandon the one in the position of suffering. We can’t fathom something so awful, and deep down we’re afraid someday we may be the one drowning in the the awful, so we mentally and emotionally distance and avoid such people, even at the cost of broken hearts, and shattered lives. We don’t want our own hearts broken, so the only logical step would be avoiding the broken-hearted.
This has nothing to do with glorifying a form of murder that can make your stomach churn. Rather, the natural reaction of our stomachs churching should be propelling us to the action God requires of us as His true disciples. This propensity to turn our heads away from the cross has leaked into members of the Mormon church as they so obviously refuse to look suffering of their fellow friends and family members in the face and address it as scripture instructs us to. It has proven to be much easier to only see the grandeur and overwhelming beauty of the temple instead.
Job illustrates people like this in great detail as he describes his friends, Bildad and Eliphaz. Here we find a man suffering on incomprehensible levels, and yet his friends do little to succor this man, if not worsen the matter. In fact, their attempts to offer a false “love” towards him placed Job in a rather provocative position that probably came off as rude and insensitive to his seemingly well-intentioned friends.
“Job called them ‘worthless physicians.’ Today we call such people ‘Job’s comforters’ – a scathing little phrase which by dint of its sheer utility has found a ready niche in our vocabulary. Job’s comforters are those who think that the way to minister to others in need is by straightening them out… Job’s comforters succeed only in twisting the knife in the wound, and if you try to tell them that this is what they are doing to you, they will tactfully remind you that you are the one with the problem… These men are representatives of all the twisted and damaging ‘ministry’ that is carried on in the name of the Lord, yet apart from love, apart from the Holy Spirit.” (Job 13; The Gospel According to Job, Mike Mason, Pg. 149)
How often do Mormons or other Christians settle in to their artificial exterior so habitually that when someone comes along threatening this comfortable exterior shell, we recognize them as dross, and mentally move them into a position of inferiority? It is then this inferior position that causes these same people to over-scrutinize, patronize, and then abandon the one in the position of suffering. We can’t fathom something so awful, and deep down we’re afraid someday we may be the one drowning in the the awful, so we mentally and emotionally distance and avoid such people, even at the cost of broken hearts, and shattered lives. We don’t want our own hearts broken, so the only logical step would be avoiding the broken-hearted.
God instructs the opposite approach.
“By faith Moses, when he was called to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Hebrews 11:24-25)
Why would Moses choose to suffer affliction in behalf of the people of God rather than claim a position of glory and power? Because God commissioned him to do so, he knew it, and he wasn’t about to turn his back on the suffering due to the difficult nature of such a circumstance.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
“There are many ways, short of shedding one’s blood, of laying down a life. Shedding lies, shedding masks, shedding dead traditions, shedding inhumanity in any form: these also can be convulsive and revolutionary acts of sacrificial love.” (The Gospel According to Job, Mike Mason, Pg. 151)
When Moses made that decision to enter into the afflictions of the people of God, he chose to become part of the fellowship of the suffering of Christ. Which is a decision we will all be faced with at some point in our lives, perhaps multiple times over.
The question we’re probed with from these verses is: What will we do when we are faced with bloody, broken down, and bullet wounded warriors in this battle we call life? What will we do when we are met with people who suffer far beyond our personal capacity to understand, yet they’re standing right in front of our eyes? What place do we have in this fellowship when we would rather be gracing our fancy temples with our presence and straightening our ties in church meetings with the comfort of our promised authority trailing behind us?
“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:10-12)
Human nature leans into a tendency to make others feel inferior when one’s journey seems to be taking us toward our own life’s Gethsemane and Calvary. Yet, when Christ was hanging on that cross in calvary, He was anything but inferior. One’s mind does not have to wander into the forest of oblivion trying to analyze what may be wrong with someone whose lot in life seems particularly hard compared to our own. Perhaps it isn’t lack of prayer, assuming the worst, negative thinking, or some unknown sin that nobody can pinpoint that causes suffering in the lives of individuals who are simply attempting to endure the hand they’ve been delt.
“By faith Moses, when he was called to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Hebrews 11:24-25)
Why would Moses choose to suffer affliction in behalf of the people of God rather than claim a position of glory and power? Because God commissioned him to do so, he knew it, and he wasn’t about to turn his back on the suffering due to the difficult nature of such a circumstance.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
“There are many ways, short of shedding one’s blood, of laying down a life. Shedding lies, shedding masks, shedding dead traditions, shedding inhumanity in any form: these also can be convulsive and revolutionary acts of sacrificial love.” (The Gospel According to Job, Mike Mason, Pg. 151)
When Moses made that decision to enter into the afflictions of the people of God, he chose to become part of the fellowship of the suffering of Christ. Which is a decision we will all be faced with at some point in our lives, perhaps multiple times over.
The question we’re probed with from these verses is: What will we do when we are faced with bloody, broken down, and bullet wounded warriors in this battle we call life? What will we do when we are met with people who suffer far beyond our personal capacity to understand, yet they’re standing right in front of our eyes? What place do we have in this fellowship when we would rather be gracing our fancy temples with our presence and straightening our ties in church meetings with the comfort of our promised authority trailing behind us?
“For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:10-12)
Human nature leans into a tendency to make others feel inferior when one’s journey seems to be taking us toward our own life’s Gethsemane and Calvary. Yet, when Christ was hanging on that cross in calvary, He was anything but inferior. One’s mind does not have to wander into the forest of oblivion trying to analyze what may be wrong with someone whose lot in life seems particularly hard compared to our own. Perhaps it isn’t lack of prayer, assuming the worst, negative thinking, or some unknown sin that nobody can pinpoint that causes suffering in the lives of individuals who are simply attempting to endure the hand they’ve been delt.
I’ve been wandering amidst and revisiting the valley of the shadow of death for almost 10 years now. And there are days where all I can do is remind myself of God’s promises, and hope for a better tomorrow. My greedy pleas for healing are simply not fulfilled instantly on some days. I’ve had to make peace with this, accompanied with renewed hope that someday complete victory and healing will come.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:4-6)
May we walk through the valley of the shadow of death with our eye centered on Him who gives us light and promises us mercy.
May we choose to look at the cross when we are faced with people who are struggling to carry theirs.
May we feel renewal of spirit and great courage to labor in love towards those who are partakers of the afflictions of the gospel, no matter how scary, intimidating, or inferior it may seem. For as we do so, our faith, patience, and God’s promises will swell in our hearts, giving us the power and endurance to bear the fellowship of the suffering of Christ.
God bless you as you’re forged in His fire.
-Claire
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:4-6)
May we walk through the valley of the shadow of death with our eye centered on Him who gives us light and promises us mercy.
May we choose to look at the cross when we are faced with people who are struggling to carry theirs.
May we feel renewal of spirit and great courage to labor in love towards those who are partakers of the afflictions of the gospel, no matter how scary, intimidating, or inferior it may seem. For as we do so, our faith, patience, and God’s promises will swell in our hearts, giving us the power and endurance to bear the fellowship of the suffering of Christ.
God bless you as you’re forged in His fire.
-Claire
