Ours (at least in the immediate future) is not the question of buckling under overt and severe persecution; rather, we face the questions, can one last and can one grow and can one actually contemplate being more valuable for the kingdom in the second half of life than in the first? Resilience for first-generation Christians had a lot to do with real suffering. Resilience for us has, in most cases, more to do with lasting and thriving in the spiritual way.
