Day 32

1 Peter 3

One thing Peter's letter makes clear is that doing the right thing is hard and it often costs you. To his audience, the word suffering was certainly appropriate. For them to follow Jesus often meant the worst of consequences. Sometimes even their own lives. Where we live, I have a hard time using that word. Yes, doing the right thing isn't easy and sometimes we give up something to do it. But suffering? I have a friend in India who literally risks his life every time he stands up to preach. And in China, going to church is like a coin toss as to whether you end up in prison the next day. But in those places, the gospel spreads faster than it does here. In fact, churches there are on the increase while ours decrease. Followers of Jesus in those countries have more passion and purpose than 99% of American Christians. So maybe suffering isn't the worst thing that could happen to the church. Maybe it's just the opposite.