“The prayer of a Christian brother who was in prison for years in Romania during the difficult years of the cold war. He prayed:

‘Lord, I look forward to the great day I see you and your family in heaven. I look forward to seeing the great evangelists standing before you. I look forward to the day I see all the missionaries coming home rejoicing with their sheaves. I look forward to hearing all the great singers of the world praising you. I look forward to seeing the great preachers of the ages standing before you.

“But Lord, I have one special request. When that day comes, allow me to be there in the clothing of a prisoner. I want to praise you throughout eternity in my prisoner’s clothes to always remind me that I was a prisoner for you.'”

This is someone who was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. This man chose prison and Jesus over freedom and denouncing his faith.

I think that the idea of a comfortable Christian life is an anomaly. The majority of the history of the Church is filled with persecution and mistreatment. If you look, you will find that the Church grew and flourished the most when it was the least regarded by society. One of the early church fathers said that it was the blood of the martyrs that watered the seed of the Church that grew and multiplied.

I love that this pastor wanted to be known forever in heaven as a prisoner for Christ. The clothes meant to shame him became his highest honor because he wore them for Jesus.

I of all people love comfort and ease, but I also know that if we abide under suffering and persecution for Christ, we will find a joy and a peace that doesn’t come in times of comfort. The disciples rejoiced whenever they suffered for the cause of Christ because they knew that in the end it meant more people seeing their witness and hearing the gospel.

I want the Church in America to prosper and succeed and I don’t look forward to persecution at all, but maybe it might be the best thing to get us out of our apathy and idolatry and ignite a passion for the true gospel of Jesus Christ in us.