For most Christians living in developed countries, life is pretty good. We have plenty of money, we are respected and get treated well, and there is no great price to pay for our Christian commitment. But how does this stack up against how Paul and his companions were treated? In the fourth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes what life on the road was like for him:
“To this present hour we are hungry, thirsty, unclothed, battered, and homeless. We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless them. When persecuted, we endure it. When insulted, we respond gently. We are like the world’s garbage, everybody’s refuse, even until today”
There is a pretty big disconnect between the conditions we experience and those which were experienced by Paul. Maybe we get “persecuted” by the odd angry atheist who insults our intelligence for believing in someone we cannot see. But how often do you get beaten up because of what you believe? There are plenty of people in the world today who are paying a high price for their Christian faith; somehow it seems wrong that we are getting things so easy. Perhaps those who are living the Christian easy life have a moral responsibility to come alongside those who are suffering for their faith, and share some of the load.