Barbara Lee, MSET

Many Christians in the United States wonder if they would be able to “suffer for Christ”. Now, has anyone ever “suffered for Christ”? How is this form of suffering different from our normal daily ordeals or hardships? 

SCRIPTURE:  12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Peter 4: 12-14, 16; NIV)

An Unwanted Blessing

My sister’s Bible class was discussing that in the United States it appears that we have not been “called to suffer for Christ”. After all, we aren’t tortured or killed due to our statement of faith when we go to church on Sunday or carry our own Bibles. Yet, my sister commented, “You have suffered greatly for Christ.” And this is the truth I’ve endured since at least 2015.

For about 12 years, I taught in the New Jersey Juvenile “Corrections System”. For about 10 years, I taught full-time in juvenile “corrections” in northernmost New Jersey. The last 2 years were atrocious with enforcement of the “modern educational ideology”. As teachers, we were told what we “could think, believe, and say”. I faced daily threats and weekly harassment which meant that I faced a very unsafe and hazardous working environment. Management wanted proper automatons. Often, I was able to “sidestep” the inmate’s questions or be abstruse in my answer. Yet I felt an “increasing sense of foreboding uneasiness” and had an “awareness” that momentarily I would be called to either defend my faith or just “go with the flow into Hell”. That day, there were only 2 choices for me, and I resolved to defend my faith in Christ. I just didn’t know what it would TRULY cost me. 

  In the classroom, an inmate told me about the FACT of evolution and told me of his  belief about humans coming from apes. (You read that correctly.) I said that evolution is a theory and explains the similarities and differences in the world with different breeds of dogs, cats, and other living organisms. The inmate confronted me that it is a theory, and it is therefore a fact. I explained that a theory is a process of discovering the truth.  Then (in front of the full class, and 2 additional classes of students, teachers, and the officers), I felt His Spirit fill me as I allowed His Spirit to confront the inmates’ deceptions that they were “accidental by-products of pond scum” and therefore not responsible for their actions. 

Days later, an inmate who had been in one of those classes, confronted me at my desk in a different building and demanded that he be permitted to go on the computer under my access code (which was a “firing offense”). I refused his demand; so he reached across the desk, gripped my hand,  pulling and pushing me across the desk multiple times. I screamed to get out of the classroom and locked the door. I knew I was severely injured since I spent hours trying to just sign my name and write a documentary narrative about the assault. A month later, I completed the resignation process, never to return. 

I retained a New Jersey legal firm for Worker’s Compensation, and over 5 years received no medical care through Worker’s Compensation. After the assault, Delaware Medicaid provided me with all appropriate surgeries which seem to me to be directly related to the assault. Since I am no longer in the “Injustice System”, it appears I just don’t understand “the law”. Yet the consequences of the assault have been unparalleled. I have had 1 cervical fusion of my neck (3-7) and 3 lumbar fusions (from my 3rd vertebrae which is near the base of my ribcage to the end of my spine) trying to repair the extensive damage from the assault. 

Unwanted Lessons

Many Biblical characters endured “fiery ordeals”. The most logical examples of enduring “fiery trials” would be Daniel, Joseph, and Esther who encountered “strange”, life-shattering experiences. Daniel was (supposedly) a teenager when he was taken to another country and forced to renounce everything that was of value to him.  Joseph was a spoiled, young man who was sold into slavery, and then taken to another country and accused of crimes that he didn’t commit. Esther was a young woman who was taken to another country, and she won the Miss World Pageant. She was blatantly told to not speak of her faith. Yet, she followed God’s directions through her uncle and wisely saved the Hebrew nation. Each of these people exemplified  faith when it was critical. 

Moses, Gideon, and Joshua encountered “fiery trials” of a different sort. Moses had to reject his “adopted culture” and lead perhaps an “army” of millions of complaining “sheep” through the wilderness. Each sheep “knew” that they could do a better job than Moses. Gideon had significant “self-esteem” issues as God told him to fight against a far more powerful and prepared army.  Like most people, Gideon tried to work out the solution based on his understanding and wisdom but had to listen to hear God’s mystifying directions. Joshua took the “army of sheep” from Moses and had to be prepared to enforce a “death penalty” on any friend or family member who refused to follow God’s directions. 

So, as a Christian, would these “fiery ordeals” seem something “strange” to you? The “greats”— Daniel, Joseph, Esther, Moses, Gideon, and Joshua made their choice to suffer for their faith. But, if you are given the choice to suffer for Christ”, could you? Each of these people fought battles to defend the Truth of God. Each character risked their life, and the lives of those that they loved, to speak the truth of God.

So, my friend, the question is: What would you do for Christ?