Was it easier to be a disciple then than now?

nowadays because church is seen as a place of boredom. This means that the number

of people who actually go to church has decreased dramatically over the past 1000

years and as people are being born they see that most people don't go to Mass so

they don't either. This makes it harder to be a follower today, as going against the

crowd is very dfficult to many people whereas 2000 years ago there were many

devout Christians who tried their best to follow Jesus' example which makes it easier

to follow him as you aren't different to everybody else.

Christians lives 2000 years ago were much simpler. Most of them had a

routine lifestyle and did the same thing everyday. This meant that they knew what

would happen tomorrow and because of this there was no stress in their jobs. There

were no deadlines or million pound deals anywhere because they weren't in direct

contact with the whole world. They lived in a close communities and they knew most

of the people they dealt with in business. People had more time not working and

could focus on their beliefs. This made them more devout Christians as they spent

the extra time practising their faith. Nowadays, however people are always running

around and trying desperately to earn money. We do this because we want as many

material things as possible. We live a materialistic lifestyle.

Christian values differ from the values of the modern day world because

Christians have a code of conduct to follow whereas modern day people do as they

please. People are selfish and put themselves first instead of serving others. One can

live out there vocation to be a disciple by doing normal things like being a good

father, mother, daughter etc.

The phrase, "To take up your cross," is probably more true then than now

because in those days people who followed Jesus stood a much greater chance of

being killed by crucifixion or any other way than now. We are in a part of the world

where opposition to Christianity is less. These days you have a very different

persecution. Now people think that your'e a strange person and make fun of you if

you speak out whereas in those days they'd persecute you with physical pain rather

than emotional. The saying "To take up your cross," isn't actually meant litterally, it

just means follow me and take whatever comes to you.

Most people think that it's easier to be a Christian today because a person isn't killed

but what affects people more because it stays there forever, is emotional pain. There

is more of that now if you differ in the beliefs of the people around you. Also people

today are much better educated and they want scientific proof and they can form an

opinion themselves.