I must have attempted to nail an article like this many times, but so often words evade me even when I’m focused on such a topic because I attempt to explain the inexplicable.
The rich and caverns-deep Christian tradition of Lament is the answer to suffering exactly because it doesn’t pretend to have an answer. In lament, which is being true to the sorrow and fear in a situation, it boldly acknowledges that it doesn’t have the answer. Lament defies skeptics who expect Christians to put up some answer.
I’m sure many Christians feel their faith needs to have answers to all things. Precisely the opposite is what true Christian faith is about—being brave and humble enough to honor the truth.
Here are some reasons why Christian faith answers suffering best when it has no answer:
- In not pretending to have the answer, there is no spiritual bypassing, but the opportunity to sit and do what Lament does—lament. Lament has integrity with the truth of what hurts so much!
- In lamenting we get the opportunity to engage in what I call ‘facing’, which is simply sitting there in the presence of suffering’s reality, which is something that doesn’t defeat us when we engage in it. It often compels us to reach out for support.
- One moment at a time, we find with facing, we can endure it, and the pain always teaches us something. There are fathoms of depth to be learned in compassion through suffering, for one instance.
- And that’s not all. When ‘facing’ with the genuine support of another, there’s a confidence gained when neither gives way to the temptation to need an answer.
- In being broken beyond our capacity to bear we’re not broken forever. We learn that being broken and feeling broken are actually an essential part of Christian faith—Jesus was broken.
- The world needs to see more examples of true Christian faith in suffering that has no answer and pretends nothing whatsoever—honoring horrific realities is respectful but denying and bypassing reveals hypocrisy.
- Moments are transformed when we take the pressure out of them. When it’s acknowledged that there’s no answer, the moment is freed up of pressure to do the impossible.
- This has to simply be experienced to know its power: sit with sadness and call it what it is, without needing to change it or explain it away, and we find that sadness appreciates being met.
Skeptics of Christian faith may have seen responses to suffering by Christians that are neither biblical nor helpful, for example, the use of spiritual bypassing like, “Just focus on the positives in your life… count your blessings… don’t worry and don’t fear, God will use your suffering for good… don’t you know that God is with you,” etc, including pat use of Bible verses. None of this is from a heart to help.
TRUE CHRISTIAN FAITH
But true Christian faith denies nothing of the suffering realities we find ourselves in. Those of true faith sit there in the reality of our distress with us—yes, that’s true relational faith.
To sit there and lament means no explaining it away as if we mere humans could have any logical, helpful, or valuable insight about the situation and a step-by-step on how to recover.
The truth is suffering is beyond human answer.No human being can rationalize it. Only as we engage in lament are we given a process that helps to keep us safe and gives us hope for healing.
Everyone is dubious about a religion or faith system that pretends to have the market cornered on suffering, and that’s because most of the world knows it’s too complex and too impossible for human fixing.
And lament is central to true healing, one day at a time, by faith over the long haul. Somehow—and I can’t explain how—just by sitting and facing our anguish is exactly what we can do to give ourselves the best chance of healing. The reason this is the case is we see that we can bear it and that gives us confidence and hope, and somehow the pain dissipates when we bear the truth, even though the source of grief doesn’t change.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Tribework
Featured Image by chulmin park from Pixabay
