Our sufferings

Col 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you and I am filling up what is still lacking of the inflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body, which is the church. (own translation)

Here's an interesting verse to be sure, particularly the part of "what is still lacking of the inflictions of Christ." Is this supposed to be arguing for the incomplete accomplishment of the atonement upon the cross? Is Paul suggesting that we, as individuals, must contribute to the atonement by filling a alloted portion of suffering prepared for us? This has puzzled scholars and theologians alike, and a quick look into the commentaries will show that many people do not know what to do with this verse.

I will offer one helpful suggestion. While Christ's accomplishment on the cross was sufficient for its own purposes, it did not accomplish God's total plan. God's total plan was for the formation of the church, the collection of the saints. Christ's sacrifice makes this possible, but it is only through the sufferings of individual Christians that this comes about. Paul as a missionary fills up this alloted amount of suffering to fulfill the complete plan of God.

I think several points come from this. Any system of theology that suggests that Christ's sufferings were all that were needed for salvation should be considered wrong. Obviously there is a portion of sufferings reserved for Christians who take the gospel to others. This is the other point, which I will form as a question. Is every Christian individual expected to contribute to this allotment of suffering, or only certain ones that like Paul, have been called to such work? Obviously we are called to die to ourselves, so that Christ might live in us, so that we might indeed truly live, but this does not involve the type of suffering that Paul has in mind here. Although I think an argument for only the suffering of certain individuals can be made here, I'll leave it for discussion.