What’s It Worth to You?

For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been

made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise

in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present

hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor,

working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we

entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13

I haven’t watched them in a while, but I used to love watching episodes of “Antique Roadshow” where people would

bring in old antiques and find out what they might be worth. Some items were found at garage sales or up in attics,

some were handed down over time, but each had a story. It was always most interesting to find out the value of

something that might come to most as a complete shock, estimates reaching much farther than what the owner

might predict. I always imagined having received some stuff from my grandparents only to find out one day that I

was now a millionaire.

Some Christian lives are just plain hard. Not everyone has the same story, and we all have our own hard, but some

do have extraordinary stories of difficulty or loss or survival. It’s very easy to be one of those people or to see one of

those folks and to ask God, “Why?” Why do I, or they, have to endure so much? Why don’t I, or they, ever seem to

get a break? Why do other people seem to have it so good? Why can’t I/they just get a little success? On the other

hand, it’s so common that we overlook how good we do have it, no matter what our story is. You might say,

somebody’s always got it better, and somebody’s always got it worse. Life is relative, subjective, and for a Christian

(or anyone for that matter), no two stories are the same.

Why do you think that the apostles endured so much hostility in their ministries? We often tend to think that those

who serve God “most” should be most obviously blessed. Their lives should be the least painful because they are

putting themselves out there the most. Did you forget that Jesus died on a cross, the sinless, spotless Lamb of

God? Let this passage enlighten you: God sometimes puts those who are dedicated to Him on display by allowing

them to go through hard things to magnify His worth. Is the Gospel worth the pain? Is Christ worth the shame? Is

God’s glory a treasure for which we’d pass through the valley of the shadow of death, brushing upon the gates of

Hell? This is the reason for some of the extreme stories out there that you may have heard of or may be living.

“Men condemned to death…a spectacle…fools…weak…dishonored…hunger and thirst…poorly clothed…beaten

and homeless…reviled…persecuted…defamed…filth of the world.” How many of us read that list and exclaim,

“Sign me up!” Here’s the thing: the disciples themselves didn’t go seeking that treatment; it was the result of living

for what they valued, the Gospel. Even Jesus prayed, “If this cup may pass, let it pass; nevertheless, not My will,

but Thine be done.” The more they pursued the furtherance of the message and the glory of God, the more they

found themselves in such conditions. Their testimonies still speak volumes because when people will go through

the worst of the worst for what they believe, they are shouting with their lives that this is worth the pain. It grabs the

attention of angels and men. It points with a bloody finger at the Lord Most High and declares not only to others, but

to the ones bleeding for their faith, that He is worthy. Oppression and hostility are not an anathema to living for

Jesus; the more one turns up the heat on living for Him, the more the pressures and pains often mount.

Maybe we need to be reminded today that worship isn’t always with song; sometimes the greatest worship is living

for, hurting for, and dying for the Gospel we believe in. If it isn’t worth, why suffer for it? Let the faith and the

suffering of the disciples, and Jesus, stir up your own bravery in following the Lord.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All

rights reserved.