Christ Alone. No Other Way.

We know that in this world we will suffer. To suffer is to be human. Suffering takes many forms: profound suffering in Syria and Iraq right now, battling cancer, the premature death of someone you love, human slavery, the incessant voice in your head and heart that says “you are not good enough”, violence, divorce, despair, and the unrelenting attack of Satan whose mission is to steal hope and peace, kill life and liveliness, and destroy your relationships. Suffering is the consequence or manifestation of evil. The question “whence evil?” or “why is there evil in the world if God is all powerful and good?” had been asked for millennia. How do you answer the father who says: “I cannot worship a God that allows my 8-year old to die of cancer” or a comment like that? This might be the number one reason people turn away from God.

The real answer, although not a complete one? God is not the cause of suffering, at least most of the time. God is all good. There is no evil in Him. While good can come out of bad, bad cannot come out of good. No, we humans are the cause of much of the suffering in the world; some suffering is self-inflicted. Not all suffering – most disease, natural disasters that cause tremendous suffering, infirmities, accidents, and other causes of suffering happen in this fallen world, apparently without our help (although I suspect that the choices we make can give power to the evil that causes these as well. More on that in another blog). But not from God.

A lot of the suffering we see all around us is caused by us. Here’s how. You were made to worship – you will worship. The question is, what will you worship?  You were also made to be valued, accepted (the opposite of rejected, right?). You will worship the thing that gives you the most value, the thing that promises to totally fulfill you. For many different reasons, generally related to wounds we sustained over the course of our young lives, we will all choose an ultimate thing or ultimate concern to worship. Sex, money, power, knowledge, possessions, accomplishments, etc. – pick one. They all appear equally good. Other things? Family, the Bible, ministry, philanthropy, religion, etc. can also become places where we find our ultimate value. God calls all of these idols. The only right choice? Jesus. Why Jesus? Keep reading.

What you are really doing when you choose one or more of these idols to worship is you are making a contract with that thing. You chose it because you have freedom to choose it (throughout the Bible God urges His people to choose Him instead of idols), and here is what it says to you “I will totally fulfill you and prevent suffering, but you must totally surrender to me”. You have faith that the thing you have chosen will deliver on the promise of total fulfillment and protection. And you will uphold your end of the bargain, no matter what. Everyone makes this contract, Christians and non Christians. Everyone. And so in this sense, everyone has faith. Isn’t that ironic. Atheists have faith. Hopefully Christians have entered in this relationship, as I explain below, with Christ. And so we have faith also. But faith that endures and delivers. Real faith.

You have chosen to worship yourself when you choose one of these other gods – “I will get fulfillment my own way, in my own power. I will give all my energy to this thing that I have chosen. “Do not get in my way. My fulfillment is more important to me than you are.” And so the suffering begins. For me and for the people around me. The suffering will intensify when you finally begin to sense that the thing is not upholding its end of the bargain – in fact, it never will. It is a lie. You have invested your entire life in this thing, and what did you get? You are isolated, exhausted, miserable, alone, depressed, despairing. Perhaps you turn to alcohol or drugs to deal with your pain. You are spiritually and emotionally dying. Maybe physically also. You are suffering. And in your wake are the suffering people you have run over or destroyed.

We chose this thing to prevent suffering and in the end it caused the very evil and suffering it promised it would prevent. Whence evil? Much of the evil in the world comes from us, because God gave us freedom to choose to love Him or something else. But no matter where we are on this road we can always turn to Jesus, claim Him as our ultimate concern and totally surrender to Him, and He will heal us (spiritually, emotionally, and possibly physically), make us whole, and give us the life we have longed for – abundant life. Not a life without suffering. We will still suffer because we live in a fallen world where evil still exists. But in our suffering we will have an amazing promise: I will never leave you or forsake you. We will have amazing power. To be healed, to overcome, to hope, and hope does not disappoint Paul tells us. And even to be protected from evil and suffering to some extent, as I have witnessed over and over again in my life. We will be filled with the Spirit of Christ and the Father’s love. We will be valued, accepted, and loved by Jesus in a way we have not known before. We will become “oaks of righteousness, a planting for the display of His glory” so that we can “rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the cities long devastated” in our own lives, the lives of people around us, even our neighborhoods and cities. We will know peace, joy, and satisfaction. Not in our own power, we are done with that. But still, as ambassadors of Jesus, operating with the power that He gives us. That makes us powerful.

Finally, Christians who have made Christ their ultimate concern can still hear that voice “you are not good enough”. Satan ignores the fact that you are no longer in his grip. You have been set free. The next time you hear that voice or any other voice of condemnation, use the power you have. Tell him to get lost, in the name of Jesus. And remember, the abundant life begins now but lasts for eternity. You will be healed. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But Jesus will never fail to uphold His end of the bargain. That is the source of our hope and our faith.

No other way: Christ alone. Jesus protects, provides, heals, makes whole. Jesus gives us life. Only Jesus is worthy of worship, even in the depths of suffering and loss -through the storm.