Abstract
For many the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:30, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light,” might seem to be leading us to expect a life free of suffering. The Fellowship of the Suffering challenges us with another reality in line with the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:11–12 telling us we are “blessed” and should “rejoice and be glad” when persecuted. We want to focus on the first and ignore the second.
While Paul Borthwick and David Ripper are not calling us to martyrdom or to look for suffering, this book stands in clear contrast to the easy Christianity of the prosperity gospel and the painkiller mentality of US culture. Rather than telling us how to avoid suffering, The Fellowship of the Suffering leads us on a spiritual journey through suffering to ministry.
As Borthwick and Ripper take turns sharing their experiences of suffering, they invite us to join their journey of understanding how suffering shapes us for ministry and mission. When we recognize that “our faith will be stunted until we come before God in honesty about our pain” (101), our suffering becomes the impetus to grow in our faith. By looking to the Apostle Paul the authors emphasize that our suffering can “open up possibilities for joy that we never thought possible” (120). This joy is possible when we, as did the Apostle Paul, learn to better know Jesus through our suffering.
Once we place our suffering in this perspective, we can be shaped to use our suffering in ministry. No one has to remind us that we live in a world full of suffering. What we do need to remember is by growing through our suffering we can minister at a deeper level to those who suffer. As we reach out to fellow sufferers we can offer empathy, solidarity, and fellowship in knowing Christ together. By walking with people in their suffering, the authors posit that we earn “permission for sharing faith” (154) just as Jesus did through his suffering. Through our pain we have fellowship with God to receive comfort that we can then extend to others who suffer. Along with this perspective Borthwick and Ripper also offer practical guidance that will enable us to understand the biblical perspective on suffering, grow spiritually through our suffering, and reach out to others through our suffering.