The Reason for Christian Suffering
What ought to surprise us is that there are Christians anywhere who can actually escape persecution, if not bodily injury, then at least social ostracism. Remarkably, some Christians – perhaps especially Christians in the West – customarily express relief that they are not called to endure much affliction, protected as they are by governments tolerant of Christianity. But as we have seen, indeed as Jesus himself has warned, any self-centered culture will thumb its nose and worse at those regarded as a mortal threat to its pursuit of self-seeking desires. Is it possible that Christians today have cleverly moderated their allegiance to God in ways that cause their world to take little offense? Have Christians today become chameleons, adeptly changing their colors, so that they blend in with their milieu? If so, what is lost is greater than what is gained.
