Our society is generally materialistic and money-oriented thus causing suffering. The pressures which may cause this are for example, mass media such as Television. This can sometimes promote non-Christian values to increase pressure on Christians which is true in terms of relationships and violence. However, in Jesus’ day there were other pressures such as political and social issues. The demands which Jesus set are high, for example in the Sermon on the Mount. Christians then could keep these standards only through the help of the Holy Spirit. The same is true today. The Old Testament also makes clear that people would be tempted to steal, kill, commit adultery and tell lies. This was true at Jesus’ time and is still true in modern society. Jesus warned against pride, self – righteousness and hypocrisy. These are still problems today. Also, human nature has not changed as opposition to God can be manifest.
If Jesus is not all-powerful and not personally with us to the end, and if we do not trust him to be that for us, we will simply ignore the needs of others and live for our own private comfort. No one gets an exemption from hardship on planet Earth. How we receive it depends on whether we believe in an alternate reality that transcends the one we know so well. The Bible never minimises hardship or unfairness but simply asks us to deny final judgment until all the evidence is in.
‘Do not be afraid’ is the most frequent command in the Bible, which seems entirely appropriate in an era when terrorists could strike at any moment. We each have a thousand fears: mammograms and prostate tests, our future as well as our present, retirement funds, job security, crime. We also fear not getting the job we want or the lover we desire, and if we have them we fear their loss. In the face of such everyday fear, Jesus points to nature such as a sparrow, and calmly says, ‘Trust. Seek first the kingdom of heaven.’ This shows trust does not eliminate the bad things that may happen, whatever sparked our fear in the first place. Trust simply finds a new passage for anxiety and a new grounding for confidence: God. We should therefore let God worry about the worrisome details of life.
Consequently, I believe it is just as hard to be a Christian yesterday, today and forever as God and Jesus Christ have not changed, meaning His standards have not altered. By praying and presenting your requests to God, God will answer you if you will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. If the practicalities of those words in view of all the terrible things that have happened to Jesus’ followers over the years are questioned, you should remind yourself that God’s peace can “transcend all understanding.”
