Should a person be concerned if they aren't being persecuted right away? I understand there are different levels of persecution (could be as little as a "no thank you" when you share the Bible with someone) .
People being disinterested in the Bible isn't persecution.
Are you persecuting Mormons when you say you're not interested in the Book of Mormon?
Are you persecuting Muslims when you say you're not interested in the Qur'an?
No, of course not.
There's what being persecuted looks like:
(painting of the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki, d. 1597)
And there's what not being persecuted looks like:
If the second image is something that Christians can openly do without getting beheaded or thrown into prison, then they aren't being persecuted. No matter how unpleasant an unbeliever may be toward them.
Jesus tells us that we will face tribulation, trouble, trial, in this world. The Apostles and our ancient spiritual fathers and mothers in the Church did face harsh persecution, initially as a marginalized Jewish group facing harassment from some small Jewish authorities; but then more systematically and more oppressively by the Roman State.
Outside of the Roman Empire, Christians often experienced persecution in their other host nations, such as the Persian Empire, which after the conversion of Constantine in the early 4th century, began to view Persian Christians as secret Roman agents, and thus persecuted the Persian Church.
But in America? In Western Europe? No persecution. Though there have been periods of history in many parts of the West where the dominant Christian group exercised oppressive political policies against smaller Christian groups, and also the persecution of heretics. Which is something that as Christians we have to recognize as part of our history, a very tragic part of our history, but still part of it. The sad truth that, in many places and at many times Christians have been doing the persecution, both of other Christians (Catholic against Protestant, Protestant against Catholic, Protestant against Protestant), of heretics (e.g. the Albigensian Crusade), and of Jews, Muslims, and Pagans.
One doesn't need to be persecuted to still be carrying their cross. For some, the shape of their cross of discipleship does look like persecution, and those who endure it, whether they survive or if they die, are counted as martyrs for Christ. Contrary to the popular view, it is not necessary to suffer a martyr's death to be a martyr. A martyr is a person who bears witness to Christ (the literal meaning of the word "martyr is "witness") through their temporal sufferings at the hand of violent and powerful people. So, for example, many of the bishops who gathered at the Council of Nicea (324 AD) were martyrs, they bore the marks of persecution from just years earlier during the Diocletian Persecutions (303-313 AD).
But, again, persecution and martyrdom are not the only ways in which we carry our cross. We carry our cross through repentance, we carry our cross by giving up of ourselves to love our neighbor.
Christ tells us that in this world we will have trouble. The form of that trouble can range from anything from the mundane tragedies of life--sickness, poor health, financial stress, etc--it can also mean persecution where persecution is happening.
The Christian is not to go out and seek out suffering, as though by self-inflicting suffering or looking for trouble they demonstrate some sort of piety (and such is false piety anyway). Rather, the Christian lives boldly, in faith, and stands in faith against the temptations, vanity, and pride of this world. We resist the devil, we repent of our sin, we cleave to the better way of Christ, to love our neighbor and abandon all our weapons and hostilities against other people.
Notice how infrequently Paul talks about persecution in all of his letters, even though he himself had once been a persecutor of the Church, and himself became persecuted as a martyr for Christ--even to the point of death (he was beheaded in Rome under the reign of Nero ~62-64 AD). Paul does talk about sufferings and persecution, but he directs his focus on Christ, the hope we have in Christ, and on the Christian duty to love one another, to be peaceful, and to put the needs of others above our own.
People may take advantage of you, how do you respond to that? Do you get angry? Do you become bitter? Do you become jaded and cynical? Do you try to get revenge?
Or do you forgive, and say that what they took from you you offer freely, in Christ's name. And then just love them, even if they don't feel any remorse over their actions?
That's what the cross looks like.
Paradoxically, faith is probably harder in times of comfort and ease than in times of trouble and intense suffering. A starving mother with starving children is on her knees pleading in prayer before God day and night; but how often do we, with full bellies, not even stop to give thanks to our Heavenly Father who has blessed us here with food to satisfy our stomach; and worse, just ignore the mother on the street when we see her?
So, seek out persecution? No. But if it comes, count it all joy in Christ.
But do seek first the kingdom of God, take up your cross and follow Christ to where your neighbor is. Whether it's apologizing to an old friend who you hurt many years ago and still haven't reconciled with; or giving a few dollars to someone in need when they ask for change on the street. Or, volunteer at a food bank, a homeless shelter, a soup kitchen. Exercise your vocation of being a citizen of where you live to vote for bills and measures that will help lift up the disenfranchised and afford greater justice for the marginialized.
The Christian life does not just look one way, as though we are all supposed to be mendicant monks wandering around the countryside. Some Christians have private property, some Christians do not. Some Christians have no money, some Christians have (arguably) too much money). Some Christians choose to commit themselves to lives of celibacy and chastity, others get married, have kids, and grow old to become grandparents. Some Christians work fast food and retail. Some Christians are called to be pastors. Some Christians are parents, some Christians are grandparents. Some Christians are doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, law enforcement; some are construction workers, scientists, dental assistants, and deliver mail.
Christ gives us our moral guide in every arena of life:
Love your neighbor as yourself. That's what being a Christian means out here in the world.
-CryptoLutheran
