An Absurd Invitation

I've been parked in the Pastoral epistles (1&2 Timothy and Titus) for a couple weeks. They are books of the Bible that were written to leaders of churches that Paul was mentoring. Just taking my time meditating.

Today I was struck by a passage in 2 Timothy 1. Paul asked Timothy, "Join my in suffering for the gospel." Is this an absurd invitation?

We are pleasure seeking creatures. We prefer feeling good to feeling bad. In fact some people attempt to derive pleasure from pain. But the suffering that Paul endured and called his protege to endure wasn't a masochistic exercise, it was an entrustment. Paul said later in the chapter that he had chosen the path of suffering for the gospel because he was persuaded that God was trustworthy with all that he had entrusted to Him. For the sake of God's plan Paul was willing to entrust his entire life to God. Paul headed to Rome, where he wrote this letter, knowing that he would die for the cause of Christ. He admits to being abandoned by everyone, alone awaiting death. And he writes to Timothy, "Join me in suffering for the gospel."

This is why faith is so important. The power that comes from believing apart from knowing is one of the most amazing forces in the universe. Without it the idea of joining in the suffering for the gospel is nothing but an absurd invitation.

--Ben