Home > Work > Captivated (Kennedy Stern #9)
1 " [W]e tend to over-glamorize persecution, so we get this sense that anyone suffering for their faith must be some sort of super-Christian. [...] I think it's really stunted church growth.[...][P]eople glorify suffering to the point that they'll say things like the American church needs to be persecuted if we want to be purified. And they'll cite China as if it's some big Christian utopia, but [...] persecution has made it so hard to obtain Bibles in China that there might be only one copy of Scripture in the city of a million. Most folks in the west have no idea of all the heresy that can come when people don't have access to God's word.[...][W]hen we treat persecuted believers like super-Christians, we sort of get this feeling like they're so spiritual and lucky to be suffering for their faith they don't even need our prayers. Right? Because we want to assume any Christian who suffers for the gospel is automatically going to be protected, so it's not really suffering. But here's how I look at it. Let's say, heaven forbid, you or I get diagnosed with some fatal illness. Now, for some believers, they're going to have a ton of peace and be completely faithful and trust that whatever God has in store for them, it's part of his perfect will. And some of us are going to handle it a lot different. Same thing with persecution. "
― Alana Terry , Captivated (Kennedy Stern #9)
2 " [S]uffering is suffering no matter what you believe. "
3 " Just because someone else on the other side of the world is experiencing a different kind of suffering, that doesn't diminish what you've gone through. "