For Christie and Erin
Contents
Part 1: Welcome to the Fellowship
1 Suffering Comes with the Territory
2 The Worst Suffering: Paul’s Story
3 Learning to Trust Anyway: Dave and Erin’s Story
Part 2: Fellowship with Christ
4 The Sun Comes from the Dark: Prayer Through Suffering
5 Becoming the Kind of People the World Needs: Transformation Through Suffering
6 Not What I Expected: Joy Through Suffering
Part 3: Fellowship with Others
7 It’s Our Family: Solidarity Through Suffering
8 Pain as Common Ground: Neighboring Through Suffering
Part 4: Fellowship with the World
9 The Seed Must Die to Multiply: Mission Through Suffering
10 Are You Really Passionate?: Calling Through Suffering
Praise for The Fellowship of the Suffering
More Titles from InterVarsity Press
Preface
It is by those who have suffered that the world has been advanced.
LEO TOLSTOY, QUOTED IN
WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS?
WHAT CAUSES you to suffer?
This question was posed to me (Dave) by author and professor Paul Borthwick just before we entered the Urbana 12 Student Missions Conference in St. Louis. Paul and I had been acquainted through our home church, Grace Chapel, in Lexington, Massachusetts. I serve on the pastoral staff, and Paul is a long-time member and former staff member. Though we knew each other through overlapping ministry and friendships, the depth of our conversations changed with his question. Out of our reflection on this question, our friendship has been forged in the years since.
What prompted Paul to make such a bold, pointed inquiry? It was the sermon I gave the previous Sunday on the topic of worship, a subject almost totally unrelated to personal suffering. Or so I thought. As part of Paul’s feedback of the message, he said, “Even though your sermon wasn’t about suffering, and you never talked about this explicitly, I felt your own personal suffering cut through your words and connect with me deeply.” That’s when he asked me point-blank: “Tell me, what causes you to suffer?”
Ordinarily, this would be the kind of question I would kindly dodge, using generalities, not specifics, to avoid giving a direct answer. But I decided not to do that with Paul. Why? Because I could sense a familial solidarity with him. He too was a fellow sufferer. Suffering gives birth to fellowship.
About three years later, after another sermon I preached (actually about suffering this time) titled “Suffering Comes with the Territory,” Paul found me in the lobby following the service and said, “You just told me my life’s story and affirmed my efforts in ministry. This is your book.” Powerful words from a man who has been following Jesus longer than I’ve been alive and has written sixteen books! But I wasn’t so sure.
A few days later we grabbed breakfast together, and Paul shared story after story, insight after insight, from all over the ...
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About The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." Philippians 3:10 (ASV)If we follow Jesus, we will experience pain. It comes with the territory. We might face hardship because of our Christian commitment, or we may have challenges just from living in a fallen world. Either way, Christians follow in the footsteps of our suffering Savior and participate in his suffering.But that's not the whole story. Missionary Paul Borthwick and pastor Dave Ripper show how transformation through our personal pain enables us to minister faithfully to a hurting world. They candidly share about their own struggles and how they have seen God's kingdom advance through hardship and suffering. Though we naturally avoid suffering, Christians throughout church history have become powerful witnesses to Christ as a result of their brokenness.Life is painful, but pain need not have dominion over us. Instead, it can propel us in missional solidarity with our suffering world. Come find comfort and renewed purpose in the fellowship of the suffering. |
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