The church in each culture has its own special challenges - theological blind spots that hinder Christians from growing to full maturity in Christ. I think the most serious blind spot in the Asian church is communicating the biblical truth that though "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16), he requires personal accountability for our actions. In our shame-based cultures, being open about one’s sins is culturally unacceptable, and therefore spiritual accounta-bility is difficult to foster.

I think one of the most serious theological blind spots in the western church is a defective understanding of suffering. There seems to be a lot of reflection on how to avoid suffering and on what to do when we hurt. We have a lot of teaching about escape from and therapy for suffering, but there is inadequate teaching about the theology of suffering. Christians are not taught why they should expect suffering as followers of Christ and why suffering is so important for healthy growth as a Christian. So suffering is viewed only in a negative way.

The "good life," comfort, convenience, and a painless life have become necessities that people view as basic rights. If they do not have these, they think something has gone wrong. So when something like inconvenience or pain comes, they do all they can to avoid or lessen it. One of the results of this attitude is a severe restriction of spiritual growth, for God intends us to grow through trials (Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain, Crossway, 2007, 51-52).

There is adequate teaching available in the church on suffering, but these resources are, as Fernando observes, largely ignored and neglected. Many pastors say their members have no interest in the subject.

Today in many "evangelical" churches, the response to those who are experiencing suffering is rather confusing, not to mention non-biblical. For example, those who are sick are often chastised for not having "enough faith." The idea behind this approach is that if a believer has sufficient faith, he or she will never suffer, or, at minimum, suffer very little. Often, with this approach comes an emphasis on faith healing, with someone telling the person who is suffering, "If you have enough faith, just name your promise and claim the victory!" Another, similar approach is to say what Job’s friends told him: "Something in your life, some sin, must be displeasing God or He would not be punishing you in this way" (See Philip Yancey, Where Is God When It Hurts?, rev. ed., Zondervan, 1990, 15-18).

Each of these approaches fit very well into the popular "health and wealth gospel," which Lynn Gardner summarizes as "those who teach that God will always heal and that God will always make you prosperous if you have [sufficient] faith (see Gardner, Where is God When We Suffer?, College Press, 2007, 343, my emphasis).

In providing an overview of what Paul had to say about suffering in general and his own personal suffering for the sake of the gospel of Christ, Fernando writes:

Paul begins the practical section of his letter to the Ephesians with the words, "I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called" (4:1). The fact that he was a prisoner qualified him to exhort his readers. Today exhortation has gone out of fashion. It sounds arrogant to some people, especially to those who are unwilling to be bound by the absolute truth found in the Scriptures.

Even evangelicals are embarrassed by the memory of the exhortation of their fundamentalist forefathers who spoke with authority but did so in a way that proved to be unhelpful. So there has been a shift in proclamational style in many quarters of the church. It seems that entertain-ment has replaced passion as a means of attracting people to the church.

Sadly, we blew it by letting passion become an art form without the foundation of sincerity. We permitted powerful preachers whose lives were not holy and who were getting rich from preaching rather than suffering for the gospel to rise to the position of being prominent public representatives of Christianity. Charlatans have faked passion. Adolf Hitler misled a whole nation through his passionate speeches and led them to do things they would not have otherwise dreamed of doing. Naturally people are suspicious of passion today. Some see it just as a marketing tool used to good effect by people such as used car salesmen (Fernando, 106-107).

Whether we call it passion, entertainment, excitement, emotions - whatever - that has become the mark of authen-ticity and is viewed as the presence of the Holy Spirit in much of the modern church, just as A. W. Tozer and many others of his generation warned (November 2008 Bulletin).

In the preface to the first edition of his book, How Long, O Lord? (Baker Academic, 1990, 2006), included in the second edition, D. A. Carson observes this about the false expectations of modern Christians who have been misled by popular preaching and teaching:

One of the major causes of devastating grief and confusion among Christians is that our expectations are false. We do not give the subject of evil and suffering the thought it deserves until we ourselves are confronted with tragedy. If by that point our beliefs - not well thought out but deeply ingrained - are largely out of step with the God who has disclosed himself in the Bible and supremely in Jesus, then the pain from the personal tragedy may be multiplied many times over as we begin to question the very foundations of our faith.

Of course, not all doubts and fears arise from false expectations based on questionable beliefs. At the intel-lectual level, a Christian may be as orthodox as the apostle Paul, yet so lack the apostle’s spiritual maturity that when the first crisis hits all the orthodox "commitments" are again thrown into the melting pot. Nevertheless, it is hard to think of Christians agonizing over basic questions if their suffering has not, to say the least, been exacerbated [aggravated] by false expectations as to what God is like, what God does, what place suffering has in this world (D. A. Carson, How Long, O Lord?, Baker Academic, 2^nd edition, 2006, 11-12).

In the modern church, suffering - in any sense - is viewed as something the faithful believer should not have to endure or, at minimum, something from which we can expect God to deliver us. The next time you are attending your church’s prayer meeting, carefully note how many persons praise God for suffering. You probably won’t need a legal pad to keep track of all the testimonies. If we are honest, most of our prayers and prayer requests are, in some way, related to deliverance or relief from our own or someone else’s suffering, which may be physical, mental, or spiritual.

Scripture illustrates the existence of human suffering, linking it back to the Fall of man in Genesis 3: man’s sin against God (Gen. 3:14-19; Rom. 8:18-25). It is interesting that when we look at what the Bible teaches about suffering, contrary to what is popularly preached today in many churches, the burden of suffering often fell upon God’s own people (Ex. 1:11; Ps. 90:9-10). This immediately raises a problem for believers, since God is sovereign and in charge of all life, especially human life. It is relatively easy to conclude that sin will result in the context of suffering. So, one of the major philosophical and theological questions in the Old Testament was this: Why do the righteous suffer? Why does God permit His people to undergo afflictions? Or, as it has been articulated in more modern times: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?

A key problem in this dilemma is the source or origin of pain and suffering. It was expressed in the ancient world, and still today, in this way: Either God is good but power-less to prevent suffering and evil, or God is all-powerful, but, for whatever reason, He does not choose to rid the world of pain and suffering. This problem is dealt with in many places in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Job. It also appears in the New Testament in terms of the disciples questioning Jesus about the relationship of sin and suffering (John 9:2).

Atheists, ancient and modern, have often used this problem as a justification for their disbelief. The Bible does teach that God controls and regulates suffering (see Job 1:12). He has a plan and purpose in life for every person. His plan in this world, though, is not so simplistic that the righteous do not suffer while the wicked do. Rather, His plan may include prosperity for the wicked and suffering for the righteous. But, again, in most churches today, such biblical teaching does not preach very well, so it is often ignored.

Many modern Christians have a simplistic theology in which God "blesses" them by delivering them from suffering and providing for them the riches of this world. In this theological reinterpretation of the New Testament, Jesus is viewed as a rich man who lived in a mansion and wore what we refer to today as designer clothes. But, even if one takes this perspective, which is novel in the history of the interpretation of the Gospels, the fact remains that when God was made flesh and became a man, He chose a cross, a means of suffering, by which to redeem mankind. Even a brief overview of what the New Testament has to say about suffering should give the careful student pause to raise key questions: "If in His redemptive ministry and work Jesus suffered, as we are invited to participate with Him in that continuing work, might He permit the righteous to suffer for redemptive reasons? What is the meaning of "taking up the cross" for Christians (Matt. 16:24)?"

It is true that in the New Testament not all suffering is linked to redemption. There are other factors for why people suffer. First, some suffering is caused by Satan and his legions. But, as I alluded to above, in the context of Job 1, we know Satan is limited by God’s sovereign will (Job 1:12; 2:6). So, Satan causes some suffering, but he has to work within certain boundaries allowed by God.

Second, some suffering is disciplinary, that is, God uses afflictions to educate those who will learn (Job 35:11; 36:10ff.). God does not deal out discipline with hatred or anger, but with love, just as a father must discipline his children for their own, ultimate good.

Third, some suffering cannot be explained by reference back to either God or Satan. In short, it is a mystery wrapped up in the infinite purposes of God, who knows all, but does not feel the need explain to even His own people all of His workings (Job 38-39; John 9:4). Perhaps in this category we could include the fact we live in a fallen world where even the simplest of human decisions - innocently being at a particular place and time - can result in the loss of life, through noone’s fault. This was the case when a young pastor, his wife, and two small children were driving down a rural road and lightening struck a nearby tree and it came crashing down on their automobile, instantly killing all but the smallest child.

Another problem, which is related to the second factor mentioned above, is the nature or relationship of sin and suffering. This fallen world came into being as the result of the first sin in Genesis 3. Christian theology sometimes relates suffering to sin. However, Jesus made clear to His disciples that not all suffering is due to sin (John 9:3). But, at the same time, we live in a fallen world that is the result of man’s sin. Much suffering exists because mankind lives in rebellion against God, refusing to accept God’s way of life. So, although not all suffering is directly due to sin, Christian theology always takes seriously the doctrine of divine punishment upon sin (see Lev. 26:14ff; Ezk. 18:4), knowing that some suffering is a punishment for sin.

Beyond these perspectives, though, lies another very important teaching found in Scripture about suffering, and that is the fact that suffering is at the heart of the gospel message. In this sense, there is a suffering that is not part of the lot of fallen humanity as a whole simply because we live in a fallen world, rather there is a suffering that is specific to Christians. This concept is implied by the subtitle of Ajith Fernando’s book: The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry. When we suffer, James says this is an invitation to joy (James 1:2).

It is important to observe that in this context James is not simply speaking about trials or persecution that come because we are Christians, rather he is talking about the fact that when we suffer, in whatever context, we should count it "all joy" because Christ can use that trial to work things to our good. Fernando’s observation on James’ words is,

Sadly, some Christians find this difficult to do. They have been deeply hurt by people and circumstances. They did not see people being committed to them when they needed it most because it was too costly for them to do so. These painful experiences have affected the way they look at life. And they find it difficult to believe that the problems they face will work out for good. They even find it difficult to believe that God will look after them in a difficult situation. So when problems come, they are not joyful. They think, "See, nothing works out right for me" (Fernando, 37-38).

Although many evangelicals are not likely to read the writings of L. Ann Jervis, an Anglican priest and professor of New Testament at Toronto School of Theology, her recent book, At the Heart of the Gospel: Suffering in the Earliest Christian Message (Eerdmans, 2007), is another monograph that pastors and teachers who are serious about centering their messages on the New Testament should read. Early in the book she writes:

Paul regarded the suffering that attends belief in the gospel as anything but accidental - acceptance of the gospel is at the same time acceptance of suffering.... Believer-specific suffering is not sought. It simply comes with accepting the gospel. In fact, Paul recommends that his converts do all they can to avoid confrontation with their neighbors and encourages them to love all people. Afflictions are the paradoxical attendants to the joyful good news, perhaps because, as just noted, they serve the purpose of continuing and completing God’s saving work - a work which Christ demonstrated cannot take place apart from suffering. However, believer-specific suffering is undergone in a particular manner: it is experienced in concert with joy. And it is accompanied by faith, hope, and love (Jervis, At the Heart of the Gospel, Eerdmans, 2007, 29-30).

In short, there is a cross in every believer’s life (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; Luke 9:23; 14:27), and our cross has many similarities to the cross of Christ. We are asked to share God’s burden for a lost world, and if we do that, we will, and can expect to experience suffering.