Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. — 2 Corinthians 11:24-25
Not long ago I was reading the story of a Christian risking their life to serve God in China. Underground church services held in secret. The constant threat of arrest. The very real possibility of losing everything, freedom, safety, even life itself, for gathering to worship a God that many of us take entirely for granted. These believers were willing to sacrifice it all for something most of us have never had to fight for.
Most people reading this today would not even know how to fathom suffering for the cause of Christ the way Paul describes it. Paul’s list in 2 Corinthians 11 is almost difficult to read. Beaten with rods. Stoned. Shipwrecked three times. A night and a day adrift in open water. And this is only part of a longer catalog of suffering he reluctantly recounts because false teachers in Corinth were boasting about their credentials and Paul felt forced to compare his own. His resume was not built on accomplishments or accolades. It was built on what following Christ had cost him.
He was not exaggerating for effect. He was simply being honest. Most of us in the modern world, particularly in places where Christianity is not just tolerated but culturally comfortable, will never face anything close to what Paul describes or what believers in restricted nations face even today. That is not something to feel guilty about. It is something worth being honest about.
Because honesty leads to an uncomfortable but necessary question. What has following Christ actually cost you?
Not in theoretical terms. Not in the abstract language of carrying a cross that we use comfortably from a place where no cross has ever actually been required. In real, specific terms, what has it cost you to follow Jesus?
For many of us the honest answer might be very little. We have not been asked to give up much because we have rarely stepped into the places where following Christ requires genuine sacrifice. We attend church when it is convenient. We give when it does not significantly affect our lifestyle. We speak about our faith when it is socially acceptable to do so and stay quiet when it is not.
That is not a condemnation. It is an invitation to examine ourselves honestly. The believers in China gathering in secret are not suffering because they sought out suffering. They are suffering because their faith is genuinely costing them something in a context where following Christ is not safe or convenient. Their willingness to pay that price is a mirror that shows us something about the comfort many of us have settled into without ever noticing.
Faith that has never cost us anything has likely never been tested. And faith that has never been tested can be difficult to distinguish from simple cultural comfort dressed in spiritual language.
This is not a call to manufacture suffering or seek out hardship for its own sake. It is a call to examine whether we have allowed our faith to remain so comfortable that it has never required anything real from us. Paul did not choose his suffering. It came as a direct result of his unwillingness to compromise the gospel he had been entrusted with.
What would it cost you today to stand fully for Christ in the places where it actually matters? In the conversation you have been avoiding. In the compromise you have been quietly making. In the comfort you have prioritized over conviction.
Paul’s suffering was the proof of his authenticity. What does your life prove about yours? Faith that costs nothing rarely produces anything. What is your faith actually costing you?
Sometimes the most meaningful encouragement comes from hearing how God is meeting people in ordinary moments.
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About Another Well Ministries
Another Well Ministries exists to help people slow down, listen deeply, and encounter God in the ordinary places of life. Through devotionals, reflections, and spiritual resources, we seek to create space for faith to be formed with honesty, grace, and hope.
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