The second to last section in Colossians Remixed concerns the story of Jesus as a story of suffering — and this, they suggest, provides a foundation for the Colossian Christians to understand their own suffering.
Cross-bearing is integral to being the body of Christ
The church is destined to affliction or, better yet, to oppression. See 2 Cor 1:3-7; Phil 3:8-11 and Rom 8:17. [Question: If “oppression” — translating thlipsis — was the analogy between the church and Christ, why is that word never used for Christ’s sufferings in the Gospels? It is often used in the Gospels for eschatological tribulation.]
The story of the church is the story of oppression.
“Where does that leave a Christian community that seems to avoid any sort of suffering?” (229).
Paul made known the “mystery” and the “hope of glory.”