Another Roman Road

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”

— Paul, in Romans 5 ESV

The 'Roman Road to Salvation' is a collection of verses from Romans—a helpful guide for explaining God's plan of salvation in Jesus.

There's another Roman Road found in the first few verses of Chapter 5—the Roman Road to Endurance, Character, and Hope. Paul lays out Sufferings, Endurance, Character, and Hope as a process—a sort of assembly line, where one thing produces the next thing.

What's noteworthy here is that the thing we all want and need—Hope—is connected to the very thing we try so hard to avoid—Suffering. No one welcomes persecution, the death of a family member, a serious illness or financial setback. But most of us also avoid smaller sufferings: failures, losses, delayed gratification, deferred purchases, exercise, hard conversations, rejection, stillness, even fasts.

Could it be that our avoidance of pain and discomfort, individually and as a society, is connected to poor endurance, questionable character, and a deficit of hope?

Paul gives us a vision for suffering. Even major suffering, while uninvited, can be fertile soil for growth. And those minor sufferings? Maybe we should take more risks, denying our flesh in small ways and allowing our pride to be bruised more often. Paul says this is the key to more endurance, better character, and an abundance of hope.

Friends with the CEO

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

— Jesus, in John 15:15 ESV

When I graduated from college, I went to work for a large multinational company. There, I had opportunities to meet the CEO but we didn't hang out together. I understood and respected his authority but I never had inside knowledge of his thoughts, and hopes, and dreams.

If not in real life, certainly on TV, we've seen people who are friends with the boss but who don't seem to contribute in any helpful way. Either they use the friendship to coast, or they abuse it for their own selfish purposes—sometimes at the boss's expense!

What a rare and wonderful privilege it is to be a friend, under authority. This is what Jesus invites us into. We have the opportunity to know his heart and to learn from him. But always with respect for his absolute authority over heaven and earth; respect the creature should have for his creator.

And as I think about the power of friendship + authority, I also wonder about a culture that increasingly rejects authority and is losing its understanding of friendship.

When Christians don’t hold the line

I run most mornings. It's usually dark outside and, even though I wear a bright reflective vest, there's always someone who nearly runs me over. I assume they're still asleep.

Today I waited to run until the sun was up. Along the way, a teenager passed within inches of me on a bike. I know she saw me; she looked right at me. She held a perfectly straight line and I did too—so we didn't crash.

But there have been mornings when I've tripped, even fallen down. I'd have felt better if the biker had given me a little more margin.

It's something I need to remember in my relationships with others. Sometimes they may be asleep—not focusing at the moment on Christ and his kingdom. Others may have too much confidence in their ability—and mine—to hold a straight line. If one of us swerves, we're going to crash.

It's better to anticipate error and provide a bigger margin of grace.