“Of course it’s dangerous. But it’s a lot more dangerous for all of us if we don’t do it. Even in a conquering army there are casualties. Safety is not the issue when we look at the Great Commission. The purpose of the church cannot be to survive, or even to thrive, but to serve.”
― Brother Andrew, Secret Believers: What Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
“Christianity is anything but safe. Jesus made clear that trouble and persecution stood in the future for His followers.”
― Dillon Burroughs, Thirst No More: A One-Year Devotional Journey
“It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life. They have found a joy and wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians. . . and I am one of them.”
― Cyprian of Carthage
“Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all religions established by law.”
― Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason
“No innocence can shield a man from the calumnies of the wicked. […] As a shadow follows its substance, so envy pursues goodness. It is only at the tree laden with fruit that men throw stones. If we would live without being slandered we must wait until we get to heaven. Let us be very heedful not to believe the flying rumors which are always harassing gracious men. If there are no believers in lies, there will be but a dull market in falsehood, and good men’s characters will be safe. Ill will never spoke well. Sinners have an ill will to saints; therefore, be sure that they will not speak well of them.”
― Charles H. Spurgeon
“If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed…. In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.”
― George Whitefield, The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield, M.A…: Containing All His Sermons and Tracts Which Have Been Already Published: With a Select Collection
“It shouldn’t be difficult, then, to make the transposition at this point into the early Christian vision of Jesus and the Spirit and the way in which the material world is both celebrated and renewed through their work. The Jewish basis for the early Christian patterns of belief and behavior is clear. It is important that God’s people are embodied, because God made this world and has no intention of abandoning it. The material of creation is a vessel made to be filled with God’s new life and glory, even though the transformation may involve suffering, persecution, and martyrdom.”
― N.T. Wright, The Case for the Psalms: why they are essential
“I tremble because of the sufferings of those persecuted in different lands. I tremble thinking about the eternal destiny of their torturers. I tremble for Western Christians who don’t help their persecuted brethren. In the depth of my heart, I would like to keep the beauty of my own vineyard and not be involved in such a huge fight. I would like so much to be somewhere in quietness and rest. But it is not possible… The quietness and rest for which I long would be an escape from reality and dangerous for my soul… The West sleeps and must be awakened to see the plight of the captive nations.”
― Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ
“Jesus warned, however, that this life of servanthood is not lived without cost. He said, “The servant is not greater than his Lord” (John 13:16) and, if the persecuted and hated Him, we can expect no better treatment.
In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul wrote, ” All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persectution,” so this is also the cost we as servants must be willing to pay.
This is so difficult for us to accept in our world of man-pleasing, “I’m OK, you’re OK” Christianity. No one wants to be disliked, hated or misunderstood—especially by family, friends and loved ones. But this of often exactly the price to be paid by anyone seriously wanting to follow Jesus into a life of servanthood.”
― K.P. Yohannan, The Road to Reality: Coming Home to Jesus from the Unreal World
Faith Unlocked 