Why Do We Fall?

Bravo to you if you read the title of this post like Michael Caine from The Dark Knight trilogy. It's an iconic line in cinema that's repeated throughout the series: "Why do we fall? So that we can learn to pick ourselves back up." As inspirational as that line is, I would posit that it's not the perfect biblical model. It's certainly not why Jesus "fell". He didn't come down to teach himself what suffering felt like and then rise from his "failure". If we are to emulate Christ, then our sufferings and trials are not given to us for the purpose of self-improvement, even if that is a side-effect. The real reason for suffering and failure is given in 2nd Corinthians 1:4. In fact, the answer is surprisingly succinct.

"(God)...who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Christ didn't suffer affliction for himself (although his eternal goal is his own glory), rather he suffered for others. He became a man to serve others. We live such self-focused lives that we assume, even in reassuring voices, that everything that happens to us happens for our benefit, for our eventual good. And as it turns out that isn't true. We live in a depraved world. Horrible things happen and there won't always be a compact way to explain why that event was good. In fact, there very rarely is. But instead of tell us why that thing happened, God gives us something so much greater, and something so much more difficult. Comfort. Peace beyond understanding. And then he goes a step further by saying in this passage in Corinthians that he comforts us so that we may in turn be a comfort others. In short, we aren't always suffering for our eventual benefit. Rather, we suffer for the eventual benefit of Christ's bride. We suffer so that through our suffering and reassurance, we may be healers and comforters to others. It is because of this that the Church must suffer as one and be comforted as one. Paul goes on to say this in 2nd Corinthians 1.

"For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer."

And this is the beauty of the Christian reaction to suffering! It's not many people learning individual lessons on how to cope with their own individual issues, instead it is a body of believers feeling each other's hurt and rejoicing in each other's comfort. We don't fall in order to become better people. We fall in order to make Christ's people better.