Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
Philippians 1:12 (NIV)

There has been a trend of late on social media. Generation Z are those generally born from 1997 to 2012, so individuals around 13-28 year olds today. The trend that has been observed is that of this generation going onto social media and oversharing about the trauma they have or are experiencing in their lives. It’s been dubbed “trauma bragging.” It dovetails with recent scholarship revealing that this “anxious generation” has experienced and is experiencing unprecedented levels of mental health issues. This coincides with Gen Z being the first generation to grow up with smartphones. The first iPhone launched when the oldest of Gen Z turned 10 years old.

I have been curiously following this unfolding conversation. In part, it is because as the elders of Gen Z arrive in their late 20’s they are changing the consumer landscape in major ways. My company, Intelligentics, has been doing customer research for clients for almost 40 years and we are seeing radical shift that impact companies in everything from marketing to sales and customer support.

What has been fascinating for me to observe is that, in general, Generation Z has arguably grown up as the most safe, healthy, and affluent generation in the history of human civilization. Yet they are experiencing record levels of mental health issues and bragging about the trauma of their lives on Tik Tok. I confess that this has me scratching my head, but it also has me desperately trying to understand.

Today, our chapter-a-day trek returns to Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in the city of Philippi. We’ve been making our way through Paul’s “prison letters” (e.g. Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians) and Philippians is the only one left.

In each of these “prison letters” Paul references his chains, typically referencing that he is “in chains for Christ.” He does so in today’s chapter, the opening of his letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi. He also states that his suffering has “served to advance” the Message of Jesus and has had the positive effect of making others more confident in their faith and in sharing it (vss. 12-14). Later in the chapter, Paul makes an astonishing statement, telling the Philippians that it has been “granted” to them to not only believe in Jesus but to “suffer” for Him.

Spiritually speaking, suffering serves a purpose.

Time and time again followers of Jesus are told to respond to suffering with joy, rejoicing, and exultation. Why? Because it is only through suffering that we develop character qualities that are the mark of spiritual maturity and completeness. Qualities such as patience, perseverance, faith, and hope.

And Paul should know, he did a little trauma bragging himself in his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul lists being shipwrecked (three times), spending a day and a night floating helplessly in the open sea, whipped to the point of death (five times), beaten with rods (three times), and stoned and left for dead. Being under house arrest in Rome must have seemed like a cake walk in comparison. I confess, I find myself comparing Paul’s sufferings in my mind with those of Generation Z and their trauma bragging.

And yet, in the quiet this morning, I am reminded that the spiritual principle is the same no matter the relative suffering. I can look back at some seasons of “suffering” in my own life journey at which my current self would love to go back and tell my younger self to grow up. And, that’s kind of the point. As civilization advances, the shape of suffering changes with it. The “suffering” I may have experienced in my own journey pales in comparison to my grandparents who suffered through two world wars and the Great Depression. They suffered things that are as unimaginable to me as Paul’s resume of physical suffering.

Suffering, no matter what it looks like for any individual or any generation, still provides a choice. I can ceaselessly wallow in my suffering, play the victim card to excuse my poor behaviors, and/or try to escape the relative amount of pain I’m feeling in all sorts of unhealthy ways. I can also follow Jesus, who along with Paul, taught that any suffering is a gift, granted to serve a purpose of moving me toward spiritual maturity and the wisdom that comes with it. If only I have the faith to obediently follow Him in the midst of it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.