It is entirely possible to be a Christian and live a life of ease. Your life does not have to include suffering. It does not have to include discipline or effort. You can be a Christian and still enjoy all the things this world has to offer. You can spend your money as you wish, participate in whatever activities you wish, maintain any relationships that you wish.
You’ll still be welcomed into heaven, but you will be like someone who’s house has burned down and you barely escaped with your life. You will have no honor, no glory, no rewards. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15).
God has not called us to such a life. We have a spirit of power, love, and disciple. We’re called with a holy calling.
2 Timothy 1:6-14, 2:1-4
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
Paul challenges Timothy here to a life of hardship, discipline, and suffering. He encourages Timothy to “retain the standard” and “guard … the treasure which has been entrusted to you”.
The illustration in 2:3-4 is a powerful one to me.
3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
The “hardship” in verse 3 is not just the sufferings Paul has experienced – beatings, imprisonment, and so on. It’s also what you find in verse 4 – refusing to entangle yourself in the affairs of everyday life.
I believe this is a call to holiness and separation from the things of this world.
I find it encouraging that the Bible explicitly acknowledges our separation from the world to be a form of suffering hardship. It’s what’s expected of a good soldier, and it is a sacrifice. The Bible does not gloss over the fact that what the world offers is very appealing to us. That’s why Jesus told us to “consider the cost” before we pursue this life.
Soldiers make a lot of sacrifices. They do not get to choose how they will spend their time. They do not get to pursue a lot of outside interests. They do not get to pick where they will live, or for how long they will stay in one spot. At any time, they can be pulled away from family and friends and sent wherever they are needed. They don’t get to negotiate: “Sorry, sir, my son’s birthday party is that weekend, but I’ll be glad to join my unit the week after that.”
And when they are sent out, they don’t get to take everything with them. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington reportedly had his large bed transported with the army so he could sleep comfortably. Regular soldiers are not so fortunate. Can you imagine a soldier showing up for deployment into battle with a TV set and recliner? “Well, sir, I figure that we won’t be fighting all the time…”
A soldier lives a disciplined life. He is not free to make his own decisions about his life. He is not free when it comes to his schedule, his location, or his pursuits. He lives to serve.
This is the same type of life Christians are called to. It involves sacrifice and discipline. It means we will have to give up some of the pleasures that come with involvement in the world.
There are things you’re not going to be able to buy because the Lord has called us to do other things with our money. (see Acts 2:45)
There are relationships that you’re not going to be able to maintain because the gospel is divisive and we must not keep company with the wicked (Matthew 10:35, Proverbs 13:20, Psalm 103:7).
There are some good shows on TV, some good movies, some good books, some good music, that you’re going to have to pass on. (Psalm 101:3)
There are lots of social connections that will disappear when you refuse to gossip or listen to gossip (Proverbs 20:19)
Your schedule might need to change to reflect your priorities (Psalm 5:3)
This is a hard, disciplined, sacrificial life that we’re called to. But there is a purpose to it: so that we may please the one who has called us to this life (2 Timothy 2:4), to win the prize (2 Timothy 2:5). And He will reward us for it. The pleasures of earth can’t compete with the glories of heaven. Christ promised us that we would receive much more than what we gave up for Him (Matthew 19:29).
2 Timothy 2:20-22
20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.