Peter Witkowski Apologetics, Pain & Suffering

3 Truths From Bunyan That Will Help Our Kids Survive Today’s Intolerant Culture:

religious-intoleration-blogGod never intended for our religion to be a personal, private thing. Yet, we are increasingly told by our society to make it so. Our kids are told to avoid prayer and religious conversation. What is good in the home is now deemed evil when it becomes public discourse. Talking of Christ is deemed to be divisive and hurtful by our culture.

How do we respond? Do we encourage our kids to obey their authorities? Or do we encourage them to rebel and protest?

The pastor and theologian, John Bunyan, faced a similar complaint several hundred years before us. He was encouraged by the legal system of his day to keep his religious beliefs within the confines of his “family.” When he refused to keep his religion to himself, Bunyan was thrown into jail. From his life and testimony, we can learn three things about how to respond to lack of religious toleration in the 21st Century.

1. What is good for the home is good for all:

The soul that clings to Christ will increasingly become more loving, kind, patient, and caring. And since talking about God and the Bible helps knit our souls and character ever closer to God’s Word, we must make it a point to talk of Jesus in our home. And since it is good for us to talk of Jesus in our home, we must be willing to talk about him in our school. Does this mean that everyone will like us? No. Does this mean some will be offended at our words? Yes. But if we truly believe God’s Word has life within it and that it possesses the power to change people for their and our society’s good, then we must share it with others even when teachers and lawmakers tell us not to speak. As Bunyan said,

If it was lawful to do good to some, it was lawful to do good to more. If it was good duty to exhort families, it was a good to exhort others.

2. Don’t hold anyone captive:

Bunyan spoke boldly for Christ. Some estimate that thousands of people would come to hear the tinker’s sermons, which were often delivered in a barn or field. But Bunyan was very clear. He did not force anyone to listen to him. He was gracious to all. As he told his judges,

I shall not force or compel any man to hear me; but yet if I come into any place where there is a people met together, I should according to the best of my skill and wisdom, exhort and counsel them to seek of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the salvation of their souls.

In short, Bunyan did not attack anyone with the Bible. If they would not hear him, he left them alone. But if they would hear him, he would boldly proclaim Christ. We too must respect the wishes of others. If they ask us to let them be, if they ask us to stop sharing Christ, and if they tell us no thank you, we must respect their wishes. But if they will hear us, we must preach Christ. We should always be ready to preach and counsel like Bunyan was. But we must never force anyone to hear us against their will.

3. We must remember our allegiance is to Christ:

If we stand on the gospel, we will not be popular with all people. They will ask us to stop even our respectful communication of truth. Our kids very well may be threatened with bad grades, expulsion from school, or banishment from the starting roster. But when the time comes, we must stand with Christ. This world and all its honors are passing away. If we conform our faith to the will of those around us, we will deny Christ and find only despair. But if we cling to Christ as Bunyan did and experience our own prison sentence, we can trust that God will take care of us. As Bunyan wrote,

Let the rage and malice of men be never so great, they can do no more, nor go any further, than God permits them; but when they have done their worst, We know all things shall work together for good to them that love God.

Our allegiance first and foremost must be to Christ. Are you and your kids ready to follow Him?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship, Pain & Suffering

What Prison and Bunyan Reveal About Our Faith?

bunyan-in-prisonThe great theologian and Pastor John Bunyan once told his church that, “I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the word of God as now: those scriptures that I saw nothing in before, are made in this place and state to shine upon me: Jesus Christ also was never more real and apparent than now; here I have seen and felt Him indeed…I have had sweet sights of the forgiveness of my sins in this place, and of my being with Jesus in another world.”

But what makes this words remarkable is the “place and state” from which they came. They came from prison. Bunyan looked around his prison and concluded that God had never been so good, true or real to him. WOW!

How do you wind up at such a conclusion? You understand that God has called of us to suffer. One of Bunyan’s favorite verses was John 16:33:

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.

Bunyan new that his imprisonment was a manifestation of Jesus’ prophetic words. He knew that all who followed Christ were called to suffer. And he also knew that his suffering was not a pointless act caused by irrational men. He knew that the great king of heaven who had conquered death on the cross ruled the universe.  He knew that rage and malice of men “can do no more, nor go any further, than God permits them; but when they have done their worst, We know that all things shall work together for good to them that love God.” .

And so as the prison doors shut behind him, Bunyan entrusted his soul, life, and cares to God. Admittedly prison was not easy for Bunyan. He confessed that he was continually “afflicted and oppressed” by his own worries and struggles. Yet, he clung to the cross as the years slipped away. As he stood steadfast, Christ comforted Bunyan, enlarged his faith, and inspired him to write Pilgrim’s Progress. Because of God’s faithfulness, Bunyan could boast of the glories of prison!

How about us? What happens when we encounter trials? Do we praise God? Do find that we have a better understand of the Bible and of God’s love in the midst of suffering? Or do we become distressed, upset, and burned out with religion?

How we answer the question reveals much about our heart and character. In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus talks about two men who build spiritual houses. One builds his house upon the sand of human experience, ideas, and emotions. The other builds his house on the Word of God. And when the storms of life come, the house built on the sand collapses while the house built on the Scriptures remains firm.

What Christ was pointing to and what Bunyan live out was this simple truth: Those who love God will withstand trials. When they get hit by the storms of death, disappointment, and sorrow, they will remain firm. They will grow by God’s grace.

But those who have not trusted in Christ, will be blown away. Their lives will collapse because they never knew Jesus.

So how are you doing when trials come your way? Can you boast about the prisons in your life?

Peter Witkowski Pain & Suffering

Doing The Hard Thing Is Not Always The Good Thing

Why Doing A Hard Thing Maybe Wrong blogOften Christians think that hard equals good. If a decision is super hard, then it must really right. Because people disagree with us and criticize us, we assume we are on God’s side. After all, there is a correlation between suffering and holiness or so we think.

And while it is true that we will suffer hardship when we follow Christ, not all suffering is the result of good works. The Scriptures clearly say, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler” (I Peter 4:15). At times, Christians suffer hardship not because of their Christian witness but because of their selfish hearts.

As a kid I experienced that type of suffering over and over again. One fall semester, I had to do an extra hour of homework most every night because I kind of ‘forgot’ to read my summer reading list. I missed pickup baseball games, bike riding, and a whole host of other fun things. I was suffering at the hands of my parents (or so I thought). But I was not extra holy. I was suffering for because I was extra sinful.

Many times as adults, we suffer for the same reason. We have broken relationships, we are gossiped about, and we are in and out of drama because we sinned. And while our poor decisions do not justify the sins of others, we must realize that our sins have consequences. As Paul says in Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” If we steal, lie, and attack others with our words, we will reap destruction, hurt, and broken relationships. We will experience many hard things because we are being foolish. “The way of the treacherous is their ruin” (Prov. 13:15).

As the great pastor D. Martin Lloyd-Jones said,

If you break God’s laws and violate His rules you will not be happy. If you think that you can be a Christian and exert your own will and follow your own likes and dislikes, your Christian life is going to be a miserable one. – P114 SD

So how do we know if we are suffering for our sin or if we are going through a trial like Job? Consider these three questions:

1. Is there unconfessed sin in my heart?

If we are living in sin, our lives will not go well. There is no blessing apart from Christ. The Christian trying to find comfort, hope, and peace while refusing to obey Christ will only find sorrow, despair, and anger. If you have unconfessed sin and are a believer, God will discipline you. You will feel miserable (Psalm 32:3). The solution is to return to Christ. We must pray the words of Psalm 123:23-24 which says:

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

We must examine our hearts and quickly repent of any and all confessed sin.

2. Is this a direct consequence of my sin?

For example if you get fired from your job for looking at pornography, you are not being punished for being godly. You are suffering because you have sinned. The firing and the ensuing suffering is a direct consequence of your sin. Recall Galatians 6:7. The solution is to repent of your sins. And as you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. You will once again experience his blessing.

But if you get liver cancer the next month, I would not assume that the cancer is related to lust or some other sin you recently committed. Suffering is not always a direct consequence of our personal sin. God brings trials into our lives for all kinds of reasons. If the suffering is not a direct consequence of sin, we should not assume that we are being punished. This was the mistake Job’s friends made. They could not understand suffering apart from the presence of personal sin. But we can. When we suffer and there is no direct link back to a personal sin, we should stop fishing for a cause and place our hope and trust in the one who delivers us from the valley of the shadow of death.

3. Is God Getting Glory?

Often this can be hard to tell in the immediacy of the situation. We cannot directly see how God is getting glory. But if we can pull back and see that our sickness, our financially loss, and our other situations are helping us or others more resemble Christ, then we can be sure that our suffering is not only because of our sin. God is using it for our good. When we confess our sins and repent of our actions, God will turn our trials into good. As Llyod-Jones wrote, “God’s greatest concern for us is not primarily our happiness but our holiness. In His love to us He is determined to bring us to that, and He employs many differing means to that end.” Suffering is not always a result of our sin. Often it an evidence of God’s love for us.

When we take our suffering to Christ, our hardships will always refine our hearts. It helps us shift our hope away from earthly measures to heavenly treasures. If we are becoming perfect and complete, our trial, our hardship, our struggle is a great thing.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. – James 1:2

In short, not every hardship or struggle is a result of our faithfulness. Our life may very well be difficult because we have sin deeply embedded in our souls. But regardless of the reason for our suffering, it is never pointless. And if we responding to suffering by seeking Christ, we will find abundant life. Are you ready to suffer for the right reasons?