You think you have it rough?

We live in a culture that loves to complain.

If the Wi-Fi goes down, our day is ruined. If someone disagrees with our faith online, we feel personally attacked. If the economy gets tight or our modern comforts are disrupted, we are quick to look toward heaven and ask God why things have to be so incredibly hard. We easily fall into the trap of thinking we are facing the ultimate trial.

But if we are honest, most of our “rough times” are nothing more than minor inconveniences. We have mistaken a lack of comfort for a lack of God’s blessing.

To get our perspective right, we need to take a long, sobering look at the first-century Christians. We need to remember what it truly meant to say “Amen” to following Jesus in the decades after the resurrection.

The early believers didn’t argue about church seating or internet opinions. They faced an empire that wanted them erased.

To be a Christian in the first century meant risking everything. The Roman Emperor Nero used believers as human torches to light his garden parties at night. Christians were stripped of their property, hunted like criminals, and dragged into the coliseum to be torn apart by wild beasts for public entertainment.

The writer of Hebrews gave us a vivid, heartbreaking catalog of what these saints went through in Hebrews 11:36–38: “Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them.”

Notice that scripture doesn’t say they were rescued from these things. It says they endured them. They didn’t have air-conditioned sanctuaries, leather-bound Bibles, or social media pages to share their thoughts. They had the catacombs, prison cells, and the executioner’s blade.

Yet, in the midst of absolute poverty, physical torture, and constant threat of death, do you know what the first-century church did? They didn’t complain. They didn’t compromise. They didn’t demand their “rights” from Rome.

They rejoiced.

When Peter and John were arrested and beaten by the authorities, Acts 5:41 tells us they left the council “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” They understood a truth that we have completely lost in our modern, comfortable world: suffering for Christ is not a sign of God’s absence; it is a badge of honor.

The next time you think you have it rough, ask yourself what you are actually suffering for. Are you suffering for the gospel, or are you just upset that life isn’t going exactly your way?

The early Christians didn’t follow Jesus for a comfortable lifestyle. They followed him because he was the Truth, and he was worth dying for. It’s time we stop complaining about our light, momentary troubles and start living with the same unshakable, uncompromised faith that turned the ancient world upside down.

To contact Dean or share your own thoughts, email hopeinchrist2024@yahoo.com.