Geeks and Suffering (In Search Of Truth, Hebrews 12:3-4)

(Hebrews 12:3-4, ESV) (Hebrews 12:3-4, ESV) Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.


The author of Hebrews has instructed us some on how to live out our faith and acknowledges that the life of faith is difficult. In these verses he provides some perspective on our suffering.

v.3

The author has already told us to fix our eyes on Jesus as our model. Now he specifically tells us to consider Jesus in light of the suffering he endured from those who sinned against him. We've heard the stories of Jesus so many times it's easy to forget the tangible, historical reality of them. It's tempting to think of God as safely removed from our pain and unable to relate and sympathize with our difficulty. But Jesus is God himself, and experienced a life of difficulty and suffering so great that he is called a "man of sorrows" in Isaiah 53:3.

Pain is easier to endure when we don't feel abandoned to it. And so we're told to consider the suffering of Jesus, who can directly sympathize with us from his own experience. The Greek word for "consider" was used to describe calculations involving weighing and comparing. It's a process that involves thinking over and pondering. This is the process we're told to enter into as we "consider" the suffering Jesus endured from people. And doing this will help keep us from becoming weary or without strength.

v.4

The idea behind the expression "shedding blood" used here usually referred to dying. The author is saying that we have not yet had to die for our faith.

Perspective is important as we experience pain. Anxiety over something that occupies all our thoughts can quickly fade when we give ourselves time to genuinely, deeply consider how much more suffering others have experienced. In light of the suffering of Jesus, and the suffering of those mentioned in chapter 11, our suffering is considerably less.


SO WHAT'S IN THIS FOR GEEKS?

Because of the historical context, the original readers of Hebrews were likely experiencing persecution and suffering. Their lives were likely much more difficult than our own, unless we find ourselves in unusual circumstances. But this is all the more reason that we can apply these verses to the comparatively lighter suffering we typically experience, or the kind of difficulty that is more common to geeks.

Because many of us have been misunderstood or judged in the past, it can be easy to settle into a victim mentality. Our social quirks and shortcomings can also contribute to conflict or other drama in our lives. This isn't to say that we haven't been victimized, but it can be our tendency to stay in wounded self-pity when we should be in recovery mode.

Over the years I've talked to a number of geeks who seem completely unaware of what they are doing to invite difficulty in their relationships with others, and their insistence on being the one wronged effectively closes off any openings to help them find solutions.

It can also be the case that, because we often spend so much time entertaining ourselves, entertainment becomes "the norm", and we become irritated or even a little depressed when entertainment disappoints us, or when our entertainment well runs dry.

For example, I've found myself becoming childishly grumpy in my evenings lately because of boredom. Evidence that something in my perspective needs to be corrected or renewed. (I spent about 30 minutes praying and thinking through the problem a few nights ago, which did not provide an instant cure, but began a process of renewal that has been helpful.)

When we mentally isolate ourselves in our difficulty, we become disconnected from relationship with God and also run off course from the fulfilling and purposeful life God has designed us for. Pain and difficulty are unavoidable realities.

We can recognize in these verses both a gentle sympathy and some tough love. In pain and difficulty we can turn to Jesus and know that he understands what we're feeling. We can also lessen the weight of our burdens by seeing them in light of the suffering of Jesus and the suffering of other believers.
These changes in perspective on suffering don't magically happen simply by scolding ourselves and labeling our issues as "first world problems". As the word used for "consider" here suggests, this renewal of our hearts and minds comes from deeply and slowly pondering the suffering of Jesus and other believers.

Whether we're in a grumpy little funk or neck deep in terrible suffering, crying out to Jesus and considering his suffering results in strength and endurance to make it through difficult seasons.