“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.” Col. 1.24
Just over a week ago, my wife and I, along with three local churches, hosted a disaster recovery group from Enon Baptist Church, Franklinton, LA. They came to our area, Ringgold/Catoosa County GA, to help with the tornado recovery effort. While sorting through the remains of a house, we saw an interesting sight: the cover for the DVD “The Passion of the Christ.” We were stunned.
What a witness to the presence of Christ among the people who had suffered so horribly through and after the storm. No doubt, we all needed to be reminded not only is God with us in every circumstance of life, but when we suffer, he suffers with us. We are His Body. What happened in Ringgold was not an abstraction for God. He knew the reality of the event more than any of us ever will be able to understand. He was present when the destruction came and is present in the aftermath.
The team from Louisiana had experienced a tragedy of their own: Hurricane Katrina. The first community to respond to the Enon Community was Ringgold. Ringgold is and has been our home for a long time. For a while, though, I served as the pastor of Enon BC. A deep connection exists now between these two communities. We each have suffered with the other through two of the more destructive natural events human beings can experience.
Both during Katrina and now after the tornado in Ringgold, I have a keener insight into what Paul meant when he said, “now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” Two important theological terms are found in this verse: suffering (pathēma) and affliction (thlipsis). Suffering is related to the word pathos (see Heb. 2.9), and is used to describe the events in Jesus’ life just prior to and including the Cross. The word thlipsis is translated at times tribulation and is understood by some to signify the Great Tribulation.
Colossians 1.24 has perplexed many because of the seeming suggestion Jesus’ suffering in the Atonement somehow was incomplete. I don’t think Paul was saying that at all. The Cross was enough; Jesus said, as he hung on the Cross, “It is finished.” So, what did Paul mean? Understanding the passion of Jesus was far more extensive than the last week of his life helps us begin to see inside Paul’s declaration.
Anyone intimately associated with the church knows the cost required to insure the integrity and vitality of the Body of Christ. The Church itself has always undergone suffering, and in many places (such as China and Muslim Africa) continues to suffer to this day. The “afflictions” of Christ and the sufferings of his people will not be completed until the consummation of the ages. Just as the Lord was present with those who suffered in Ringgold and other places in the South during the April 2011 tornados, he also suffers with his people throughout the world as they themselves are going through “tribulation” (see Rev. 1.9-10) for their love and loyalty to Christ. In some sense, as we are afflicted, Jesus is afflicted. He is not removed or unattached from the sufferings of his people.
Our task, as followers of Jesus, is both to “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” We truly cannot weep with someone until we are involved intimately with their suffering. Weeping should not be an abstraction for us. For us, the pain of others must be a shared experience. We must, then, be involved with them in their affliction. Jesus is personally involved, and his people must be as well. The Lord must not suffer for us alone; we must join him in the agony of his people.
In his encouraging the Corinthians to fulfill their promise to make an offering to the saints, Paul said, “at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality.” Ringgold once gave to Enon; now Enon has given to Ringgold, fulfilling the words of Paul. We have wept and suffered with one another.
We cannot and must not remain comfortable in our own luxury. We must get out of our “comfort zone” and know and experience the sufferings of others. Jesus must not be left alone to suffer for his people. We must, as Paul did, rejoice in the honor and privilege of suffering the afflictions of the Body of Christ. We must “make up what is needed;” we must give ourselves, as inconvenient as the gift may be, to those whose need is greater than our own.
All over Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, God’s people are fulfilling the needs of others in their moment of affliction. Selflessly and tirelessly, small churches and large are engaged in the process of weeping with those who weep. The richness of the gift is abundant both for those who are afflicted and those who share in their affliction.
