Worthy to Suffer Shame

No one likes to suffer for his beliefs, but strangely, a committed group of men counted it an honor to do so. What can we learn from their example?

by Jeremy Lallier

The men found themselves standing, once again, before a council comprised of some of the most powerful authorities in their nation. Their lives were hanging in the balance, all because they had been preaching a message about Jesus Christ with which these authority figures didn't agree. The council wanted nothing more than to kill them; but, afraid that an execution would start a riot, they instead decided to beat the men and forbid them to ever preach their message again.

What do you think these men did afterward? Did they give in to the council's threats and stop preaching? Were they upset with God for letting them be beaten? Did they throw in the towel and turn their backs on God?

Hardly. These men were apostles of Christ, and the Bible tells us, "So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41, emphasis added throughout).

They had just been beaten (and were no doubt in a severe amount of pain, since they may have received the maximum 39 stripes) and had their very lives threatened, and yet these men were rejoicing. This begs an important question: How do we view the trials in our lives?

We will go through trials, no doubt about it. Jesus told us, "In the world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33). They may be big, they may be small, they may be any size in between, but everyone will have them. So it isn’t about whether or not we have trials; it's about how we handle them.

How to view trials

The apostles looked at the trial mentioned above as a blessing. When we go through persecutions in life, we need to remember that God has also counted us worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of His Son—our Savior and King. This is no small honor. We are to be Christ's ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), and trials are God's way of shaping us into men and women worthy of that title.

After all, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). This is another thing to keep in mind: No matter what we are going through, God has personally made sure it's something we can handle with His help.

There are blessings in trials too. The author of Hebrews tells us to "go on to perfection" (Hebrews 6:1). One way we can do this is through the lessons we learn during trials. James wrote that we should know "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 1:3-4).

What trials do for us

Trials help shape us and sometimes force us to shape ourselves. In overcoming them, we obtain and sharpen character traits that are essential to every Christian regardless of age or position.

Paul writes that "we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope" (Romans 5:3-4). Hope is an absolutely necessary ingredient of faith, which is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Without faith, we have nothing.

Another positive thing about trials is that we don't have to go through them alone. Earlier we looked at John 16:33, which assures us that "in the world you will have tribulation." What we didn't look at was the rest of the verse, where Christ says, "But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." This means that we have an example of Someone who has gone through all His trials without sinning, yet still knows how difficult they are.

Just as Jesus prayed to the Father when He faced trials and difficult decisions, so can we. We can turn to God any time we need strength or comfort or just someone to talk to knowing that Jesus is not just our High Priest (Hebrews 4:15), not just our King (John 18:37) and not just our Savior (Luke 2:11). He is also our older Brother (Hebrews 2:11) and our Friend (John 15:14-15), who makes intercession for us to the Father (Hebrews 7:25).

Next time you face religious persecution as a Christian, count yourself privileged to suffer shame for His name. VT