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Finding opportunity for redemption in unmerited suffering

Russ Waldrop / News Virginian
Published: January 18, 2008

If anyone had insight into human suffering, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. certainly did. In a brief article, he told the editors of Christian Century magazine on April 27, 1960, that "I have known very few quiet days in the last few years. I have been arrested five times and put in Alabama jails. My home has been bombed twice. A day seldom passes that my family and I are not the recipients of threats of death. I have been the victim of a near-fatal stabbing. So in a real sense I have been battered by the storms of persecution. I must admit that at times I have felt that I could no longer bear such a heavy burden, and have been tempted to retreat to a more quiet and serene life." And this was eight years before his death. (See also 2 Cor. 11:22-29).

Dr. King recognized suffering as holding both opportunity and peril, much being determined by the sufferer. In that same interview he acknowledged the perilous temptations that he and many sufferers face. One can become "self-centered in his self-denial," he said, "and self-righteous in his self-sacrifice." He saw the ease with which sufferers can develop a martyr complex, suffer out of a need for sympathy, or become bitter from personal mistreatment.

How did Dr. King continue to serve his church and country while resisting such temptations- As he said in this article, he allowed his suffering to "shape my thinking," especially theologically and Biblically. Such a perspective provided checks and balances to his internal responses before they overcame him. Can it help us-

Like the Apostle Peter, Dr. King found that suffering is unavoidable and not necessarily positive (1 Peter 1:6 and 4:15). But he said that "unearned suffering is redemptive," when accepted "as an opportunity to transform myself" and heal others in suffering; in his case, members of the black community and others who suffered with or supported them.

Many of us will become bitter in our suffering unless the "creative force" within it is harnessed and used to serve others. Yet, it is not suffering in general that becomes redemptive. Jesus said that blessing comes "when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers" (Matt. 5:10). Furthermore, even "courageous" suffering is not the most redemptive kind. The Apostle Paul said that, though difficult, it is not rare for someone to suffer, even die, for a noble cause or righteous leader. However, "it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!" It was his underserved, but chosen, sacrificial suffering for unrighteous people that makes us right with God. Jesus' humiliating death for God's enemies made us God's friends (Rom. 5:6-11, esp. v. 10). Is "courageous" an adequate word for that-

Dr. King also practiced the Biblical perspective in Paul's admonition: "Ask God to bless those who persecute you-yes, ask God to bless, not curse, them" (Rom 12:14). His writings and speeches demonstrate his intention of lifting up to God everyone who was downtrodden, and doing so without threat to anyone, even his own oppressors.

Dr. King interpreted his life and ministry, even his anticipated assassination on April 4, 1968, as part of his calling to live a Christ-like life. As he said, "So, like the Apostle Paul I can humbly yet proudly say, 'I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus' " (Gal. 6: 17). Do we-

The Rev. Russell G. Waldrop, D. Min., LPC, is a pastoral counselor and is chaplain of Western State Hospital. Contact him at 540-332-8004 or at .

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