[Suffering] may be as serious for...

[Suffering] may be as serious for modern Christians as persecution and plagues were for the saints of earlier centuries… it is the burden of living in a consumer culture where the individual looms larger than institutions, convenience trumps self-sacrifice, and personal preference eclipses virtue. The challenge of following Jesus amid comfort is just the tip of the iceberg. Convenience has an anesthetizing effect that leaves us unaware of less-visible oppression.