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Since I had knee replacement surgery yesterday I was watching TV at odd times last night.  I came across a nominally Christian channel and listened to the preaching for a bit.  That has prompted this post.  

Perhaps the notion will be foreign to you, but there are Christians who presume that material wealth and personal success are proof of God's blessing.  It doesn't take much thought to realize how unbiblical that proposition is.  Many unbelievers are financially prosperous  and quite successful. Conversly, many believers have next to nothing.  They aren't poor or persecuted because they don't have enough faith or because they haven't sent money to a televison ministry.  They are poor for a plethora of reasons, some of them quite complex and systemic to their political and cultural situation.  But if they are faithful, they are also blessed.

Frankly, the poor and persecuted believers across the world resemble the early church more than believers in the American church.  The Epistles don't potray early believers and their fledgling congrgations as unusally prosperous, influential, and relatively carefree.  It is the exact opposite.

It is hard to miss the believer's social status if one spends any time reading the New Testament.  Paul started numerous churches.  Poverty and personal need was not unusual in them (2 Cor. 8:1-2; Phil. 4: 11-12).  James's words indicate that poverty was common (James 2: 2-6).  The church at Jerusalem - surely loved by God - was notoriously poor, so much so that Paul collected offerings for Jerusalem almost everywhere he went (Acts 2: 42-47; 3:6; 1 Cor. 16: 1-2); Gal. 2: 7-10; cf. Rom. 15: 26-28; Acts 24:17).

First century believers also suffered severe persecution. The New Testament is filled with such descriptions.  Despite the claims of modern religious hucksters, the apostle suffered, even though they were the very people one might suppose to be the most prosperous if God's blessing leads to a life without hardship.  The apostles were beaten (Acts 5: 27-42), and the godly were martyred (Acts 7: 54-60).  Paul suffered with almost unbelievable (Phil. 3:8-10; 2 Cor. 5: 21-29).  Most of Peter's first epistle is about enduring suffering for faith in Jesus (1 Peter 2: 19-23; 3: 14-18; 4: 1-19; 4:1; 5:1).

The message is simple but direct: believers can, do, and will suffer for no just cause. Such suffering is no more a reflection of divine disdain then the suffering of Jesus.  And an ultimate blessing and reward awaits those who follow in Jesus's steps.