We have a huge issue here in the American Church. We think Christianity is supposed to be this life where everything is going to work out. The happy ending is coming because God wants us to be happy. Right? Hardships are for those who have little or lack faith. Lacking a substantial amount of money means something is wrong with us. Right?
Far too many in America have a Hollywood version of Christianity where everything is going to work out.
Let me paint a picture for you. It’s morning, and a man and a woman are lying in bed. As they wake up, the woman’s hair looks great, makeup is in place. The husband wakes and looks over at her lovingly. Of course, they are both ready to have sex.
The girl gets the guy, and the hero triumphs. Life hits hard, but we will always hit back harder!
That is the Hollywood version of things. However, the reality is very different. One person may have not slept well. The woman’s hair is all over the place. The guy probably has dragon-breath. Both have to empty their bladders. They are both bleary-eyed and need coffee. What needs to be done in the day is going through their heads.
The girl is lonely, and the hero keeps getting knocked down. Life hits hard, and we get knocked down. We get back up, thank God.
Maybe this is a very bleak picture for you. I assure you, that is not what I am trying to accomplish. I’m simply presenting reality.
The pastor you see preaching from a nice-looking pulpit with a fantastic-looking suit struggles with sin daily. He and his wife may have gotten into a disagreement right before church. One of their kids may be grown and out of the house addicted to drugs.
There are countless Christians across the world being martyred for the faith. My friend Brad Brandon, whose ministry is in northern Nigeria, told me how he and a colleague found a brother in Christ hacked to death. For more, watch here.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Why do we think we can get off easy when Jesus suffered? Where does scripture tell us we won’t suffer because Jesus did? The easy answer is nowhere.
Furthermore, we promised throughout scripture that we will suffer:
In the world you will have tribulation.
John 16:33b
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Romans 5:3
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18
For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings,
2 Corinthians 1:5
And on and on it goes. The scripture shouts that this life is hard. Yet, many have the audacity to preach and teach a different gospel. They preach a gospel that makes God out to be nothing more than a cosmic vending machine, here to fulfill our every desire and make our lives comfortable. Oh, the massive pride!
Jesus led by example. What about Paul?
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1
And how did Paul imitate Christ?
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
2 Corinthians 11:24-28
How antithetical to what is preached across so many pulpits in America! We might expect to hear that Paul lacked faith, the way things are. We might even expect people to say Paul was not a very godly man. Yes, the very same giant in the faith whom God chose to write most of the New Testament.
Friends, choosing to be a Christian is not stepping onto the love boat; it’s stepping onto a battleship.
If you think I have gone too far, read this quote:
“The modern world, which denies personal guilt and admits only social crimes, which has no place for personal repentance but only public reforms, has divorced Christ from His Cross; the Bridegroom and Bride have been pulled apart. What God hath joined together, men have torn asunder.”
Fulton J. Sheen, Life of Christ
That quote is from a book first published in 1958. That was over sixty years ago! Do you honestly think things have gotten better? Have you bothered to address the fruits of American Christianity honestly?
Friends, choosing to be a Christian is not stepping onto the love boat; it’s stepping onto a battleship. We are enlisting in God’s Army. We have changed sides in the middle of a war. We switched from being God’s enemy to being Satan’s enemy. Why do you think we are told, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) and, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:3) Because the battle is real!
It’s time to remove the veil, let the fog be blown away, and shed light on the truth.
Let me ask you a question. Where is the fire and zeal? If you wonder where it is, then you may have been fed the false gospel of Hollywood Christianity—a false gospel filled with promises of everything always working out. Suffering is abnormal, and where money is a measure of godliness.
You see, the problem with Hollywood Christianity is that you know for certain that everything is going to work out. We might even have an idea of how things will work out. We think we have God figured out. We might have our life formulas that seem to work out time and again. We might be well off to do in health and even wealth. We have great friends and even a great church.
What happens when all of that is taken away? Have you ever thought that if you claim to serve the God who gives and takes away, He very well could take away? Well, we get that phrase of God giving and taking away from Job 1:21. Job was a man who was very well acquainted with having it all and then having nothing.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
Job 1:1-4
Read that part again and see this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. That’s right, not only was Job well off to do, not only was he wealthy beyond imagination, he was the greatest man of everyone in that part of the world! Most of us couldn’t come close to that (not that we should care about that). However, we should be able to identify with: blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Why is that important for us to focus on?
Job was about to enter his own personal hell.
Many have blamed Job himself for what was about to happen to him—even going so far as to accuse Job of living in fear and, therefore, opening a door for Satan to come in. Yet, behind the curtain, we see that it had nothing to do with Job fearing.
What does this have to teach us about the false Church of Hollywood? Life isn’t easy. Hardships, disasters, struggles, and more can come upon even the most devout and faithful follower of Christ. In fact, more may come upon those who are more devout and faithful than others. Or upon those who seek to walk closer to God.
That is normative, biblical Christianity.
What happens when we lose a child with no explanation? When we go from being healthy to poor health in what seems overnight? When our car is repossessed, AND we lose a house? What then?
In case you’re wondering, the above things happened to me within one year, with the exception of losing a baby. That would come later. Yes, in June 2016, six months after I retired from the Army, I was diagnosed with emphysema. Shortly after, I had to begin using a cane. By the autumn of 2017, with three small children, we had lost our house and had no idea how we would get another roof over our heads. God was with us and indeed helped us; we still had to go through it all.
I hope by sharing a brief glimpse into the hardships I have faced, you will see it is part of life, even more so for the Christian.
So what do we do?
1. We have to get the biblical mindset.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5, 8
We make a choice to humble ourselves. Since Christ is our primary example, we choose the path of humility, even when that means being martyred. There is a 60% rise in Christians killed worldwide in 2020: Open Doors report. According to Lifeway Research:
In the past year, 360 million Christians, or 1 in 7 believers around the world, suffered significant persecution for their faith. Every day in 2021, an average of more than 16 believers were killed for following Jesus. With close to 6,000 total martyrs, 2021 saw a 24% increase in Christians killed for the faith.
Read more here
As I mentioned earlier, my friend Brad Brandon ministers in Northern Nigeria, where if it’s found out someone is a Christian, their own family will hunt them down. There was a grandmother who converted to Christianity, and her family took out a bounty on her.
Yet, these same people who are often rescued out of their areas get to a camp where they can be discipled, and the first question many ask is, “When can I go back?” They ask that because they have the biblical mindset on what it means to be a Christian.
2. We accept that suffering for the Christian is normal and serves a purpose.
Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
Romans 5:3-4
That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Philippians 3:10
Suffering produces godliness in us. Which, by the way, is a lifelong process. You see, suffering is the purifying fire of God at times in our lives.
But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.
Malachi 3:2
With the refiner's fire, someone would bring a lump of gold or silver and the refiner would use fire to burn off the dross and purify the precious metal. Similarly people would bring their wool to the fuller and he would use soap to clean the wool and remove the impurities so that what is left is pure wool.
Often, we cannot see our own impurities. In fact, other people can’t. That is where God comes in. He puts us in the fire where the impurities no one saw now bubble up to the top. Things like anger issues, impatience, and lust, to name a few. So that what is left over is pure, godly character.
3. Christ is with us and comforts us in our suffering.
For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
2 Corinthians 1:5
What blessed hope and assurance!
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Not only are we promised that Jesus will comfort us and give us His peace:
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Did you catch that? Jesus went through everything we go through! He really does sympathize with us in our suffering!
4. Not every difficulty in our life is caused by God, but God will use it
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Notice how it does NOT say God causes all things that happen in our life, but that He uses all things, good and evil, to work together for good.
Rest assured, if you genuinely love God, He will use your suffering for the greater good. Make a daily decision that you will not let go until that greater good comes about. When you fall, not if, you will get back up again.
For more on the subject of suffering:
Closing Thoughts:
Christianity means war. We enter into a spiritual war when we become Christians. The Hollywood version doesn’t tell you this, or they assure you of easy victories. I can confirm that no true victory ever came easy.
Life is hard, and when entering into Christianity, life gets more challenging. However, Jesus is with us, comforts us, and takes us through.
Will you choose to be a soldier for Christ?
Amen brother, I can attest that what you say is true, but praise God, He is faithful to see us through the storms of life.