"And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."

                           -Luke 14:27

Verses such as this completely defy what the world would have us believe as the true Gospel. Rather than teaching us to take up our cross, modern "Christianity" encourages us to take up our easy-chair and follow Christ. It portrays the Christian life as a bed of roses, completely ignoring the fact that even a bed of roses has thorns. They skim over such verses as, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (II Timothy 3:12). Instead, they preach that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall enjoy relaxation. While I'm sure we all wish that were the case, it simply is not. Being a Christian will not always be easy, and we are lying if we try to convince people (or ourselves) otherwise.

"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."

                            -Luke 6:22-23

Jesus didn't try to hide the fact that following Him would bring persecution upon those who choose to do so. He said that we will be hated, rejected, and reproached just like He was (Isaiah 53:3), and that we must count the cost to see if we are willing to endure these things (see Luke 14:28). Of course the persecution and hardship is more than worth it, but we shouldn't pretend like it doesn't exist.

"But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."

                            -Matthew 13:20-21 

The Scriptures concerning persecution aren't in fine print; they're in big red letters. Will we read them? Or better yet, will we heed them?

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

                            -Matthew 5:10