Sin often moves beyond individuals and infects entire communities. Jonah’s sin also put the sailors in the storm (Jonah 1:4). Christians are even said to suffer together, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Membership in the body of Christ brings shared suffering. Grief, then, becomes corporate, not just personal. In light of this, how can churches process corporate pain in a way that brings unity and builds faith? They learn to lament.

Suffering is a reality of this broken world. Harold Senkbeil says, “God’s pristine creation—with no suffering, no death, and no destruction—is now long gone. This earth is still a delightful place to live. But everywhere we look, our beautiful world is filled with misery, hardship, sickness, calamity—and death.” Calamity hits us all at some point. When that happens, how should we respond?

As individuals, we have our own way of processing suffering, but how do we process suffering corporately? Sin often moves beyond individuals and infects entire communities. Jonah’s sin also put the sailors in the storm (Jonah 1:4). Christians are even said to suffer together, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Membership in the body of Christ brings shared suffering. Grief, then, becomes corporate, not just personal. In light of this, how can churches process corporate pain in a way that brings unity and builds faith? They learn to lament.

What is Lament?

“Lament is the biblical language of corporate grief.” Mark Vroegop says that lament is “how the people of God mourn the brokenness of the world.” Lament is a way of prayerfully bringing our pain to God. David does this in Psalm 13: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” He brings his pain to God in prayer. Lament is key to God’s people processing grief.

Every one of my doctor’s appointment starts with this question, “So, where’s the problem?” Then I point out all the places I feel pain. Why do we tell doctors where it hurts? Senkbeil says, “You list your complaints because you know your condition should receive attention. It may not go away; some of the symptoms may remain. But you’ve gone to someone who can do something about it.” It’s appropriate to bring our complaints to God because he can provide the necessary treatment.

Why Lament?

Lament because we do not have answers.

David’s lament in Psalm 13 has questions without answers. Sometimes life just does not make sense. Sometimes, even when things make sense, they still hurt. We can have a theology of sin that explains why people do cruel things to each other, but when we live through the cruelty, our hearts still bleed. Lament is a place for questions of “why?” and “for how long?”.

Through lament, God invites us to be brutally honest. To bring the heart-wrenching pain and ask him, “why?”. Habakkuk prayed, “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you ‘Violence!’ and you will not save?” (Hab 1:2). As a loving Father, God embraces us in our pain, and as a wise counselor, he is patient with our questions. Lament helps us bring these painful questions to God.

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