The Persecution of Prosperity

I'm reading Walking with Arthur by James O'Donnell. James, or Jim as he refers to himself in the book, was, in the world's eyes a very successful businessman before becoming an associate-professor and executive in residence at Huntington College in Indiana. As a successful business man his marriage and family were falling apart when he discovered he believed in nothing. He held nothing sacred. Trusted no one. And no one he knew was worth trusting. That was, until he met Arthur.

Here's a great quote from the book (one of many I might add):

My coming to faith back in 1985 led me to serve in ways and places I never imagined. I've been to the third world. I've slung mud and laid brick in the Appalachian hills. I've been to a Jamaican orphanage and Honduran slums. But my heart hurts most for my fellow Christians in prosperous places... where people feel insignificant in spite of all they have.

—James O'Donnell, Walking with Arthur

This resonates with a statement my wife, Julie often recounts which was made in response to her assurance of prayer for a Romanian pastor she visited with while on a mission trip. After detailing the suffering his family and his father's family faced because they chose to be faithful in the face of persecution from a communist government who required they renounce their faith to receive food rations, he expressed his sorrow and prayer for the people of the west (US specifically). "Why," Julie asked. "You have endured so much, and we don't face near what you have to face." His reply put things into perspective. He said, "Because in your country Satan persecutes believers through prosperity. You have so much you don't even recognize the you are being persecuted."