https://odb.org/2026/03/12/the-cost-of-commitment
2 Timothy 1: 6-12 NIV 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
After the pastor handed out fifteen Bibles he’d brought with him, one woman gave hers to someone else. Like many others, she’d memorised chapters of Scripture so she would have its wisdom secured in her heart if she were to go to prison. She later asked the pastor to pray that their church would be free to gather just like his. Instead, marvelling at how they sacrificed, suffered persecution and risked imprisonment, he prayed that his church would be just like theirs. (Xochitl Dixon, Our Daily Bread 12th March 2026)
During the early days of my Christian faith when I was still a teenager in secondary school, I already heard of Open Doors and the work they were doing supporting the underground church. It had a profound impact on me. Even though Xochitl did not explicitly mention, we know from experience that she was speaking about the underground house church in her ODB life example today. There was a time (perhaps even today) that members memorise Scripture and pass around portions of it as the Bible itself was so hard to come by. Once committed to memory, even if the authorities were to take away the physical bible from them, Scripture was already etched in their hearts. That is why the Word is written in our hearts in this era of Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected! We memorise, remember and live out the Scriptures! We are a living testimony of God’s love, grace and mercy.
This brings us to the second point of today’s message, which is the suffering that Christians go through for Christ. This is a topic that often comes up for discussion during our Young Adults Group meetings. Most of us will likely not go through the persecution that the underground church go through, unless we also live in closed countries like them (closed here means closed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ).
The “suffering” we face is different in the sense that, usually in our context, it mostly depend on whether we are willing to make a stand for Christ, in our family, at work or in school. If we make a stand as per Scripture, we may be branded as extreme or a religious fanatic and in some organisations (not all), that may mean that we are not suited to be senior management.
We cannot blame the world if we suffer such a fate as the world has its own standards while we are guided by Romans 12:2 (not to conform to the pattern of this world). What’s the point in gaining the whole world if we were to lose our soul. For example, I’ve seen Christian business people who became so engrossed in chasing after success and wealth that they dabble in Feng Shui (some are so immersed actually), justifying it as being a science of Yin and Yang. But the whole idea of structuring our lives such that our business may be filled with opportunities, wealth and prosperity is by itself preposterous when looked at through Christian lenses. Wealth is something that God blesses us with as a labourer is worthy of His wages. It is not something to be chased after or coveted. As a believer, what matters most is our faith, not whether we are rich or poor, a mere manager or a CEO or President?
Having said the above, it is not impossible, in fact, highly possible, that we may one day face persecution that our brethren in closed nations face. The time may come in these end-times that every nation may be closed to the Gospel and believers may be hunted down like during period after the book of Acts or like during the Dark Ages. History may repeat itself in modern times but in a different and perhaps more subtle form. Will we be able to say at our last breath – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith?
Ronnie's Thoughts 