Armed and Suffering

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. – I Peter 4:1

In 1982 I tried getting into some serious bodybuilding, putting my then 27 year old carcass through a tortuous regime which I came to really love. My trainer spent a good deal of time prepping me for the bodybuilding lifestyle, emphasizing what became an important, obvious point: If I could fully embrace the necessity of pain for the sake of gain, I’d succeed.

I nodded and, I guess too quickly, said “Of course!”

His glare surprised me. “Don’t be so quick to say yes to this. All your life, when you’ve felt pain, you dropped everything to stop it. That’s normal. But now you’re going to go against a lifetime of training and, instead of quitting when it hurts, you’ll embrace pain. Believe me, that won’t come so easily!”

It didn’t take long for me to see his point. Each round of heavy lifting set my muscles on fire, and indeed, it was hard not to stop when the burn hit, because the normal response to pain is to stop doing whatever’s causing it. It’s not that bodybuilders are masochists who love hurting. Rather, they, like most athletes, know pain means you’ve pushed yourself further than usual, so they don’t back off; they  keep it up.

I’m sure that’s at least part of what Peter had in mind when he mentioned Christ’s sufferings, then said “Arm yourselves with the same mind.” In other words, adopt a mindset that says, “It’ll hurt resisting sin and living sacrificially; I’m gonna embrace that hurt for a higher goal.”

One of my biggest frustrations as a Biblical counselor is knowing that there’s no way to bypass this and, likewise, there’s no way to talk someone into a willingness to experience pain in the interest of something greater. I can help a man set up his accountability structure, understand his temptation cycles, learn from his personal history, and develop better coping skills. But the rubber meets the road when commitment meets discomfort, and nothing can make that easy. When temptation comes, as it surely will, then he and only he will make the decision to either endure the pain of resisting it, or ease the pain by yielding to it. There’s the plain, unavoidable truth.

If I wait for temptations to go away, I may as well kiss holiness goodbye. Likewise, if I wait for the day when it doesn’t hurt to say no to them, I’m doomed to a carnal, compromised life.  But when a man says “How can I be equipped to stay consistent when the feelings get rough?” then I’ll put my money on him. Jesus was armed with that particular mindset, mentioned and clarified in Luke 9:51

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.

This struck me yesterday while celebrating Easter. Knowing it was time to face the agony, He set His face in the direction of His own grisly execution. Steadfast, knowing exactly what He was facing, and knowing what lay beyond. Incredible.

So in light of that, I’ll strive to be armed today with that same mindset, although I’m not about to stack my piddling temptations against the crucifixion. But the principle’s still important: If we’re serious about Him, we’re serious about this.

And considering the resurrection we just remembered, I can’t think of a better way to honor Him than to follow Him, with that same steadfast mind, to the cross for a season, and to the glory forever.