real persecution

Every time I hear some conservative, white, middle class evangelical whine about how persecuted they are, I'm reminded of this passage...

2 Corinthians 11 

23 ...I know I sound like a madman, 

but I have served (Christ) far more! 

I have worked harder, 

been put in prison more often, 

been whipped times without number, 

and faced death again and again. 

24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. 

Once I was stoned. 

Three times I was shipwrecked. 

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 

26 I have traveled on many long journeys. 

I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. 

I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, 

as well as from the Gentiles. 

I have faced danger in the cities, 

in the deserts, 

and on the seas. 

And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers 

but are not. 

27 I have worked hard and long, 

enduring many sleepless nights. 

I have been hungry 

and thirsty 

and have often gone without food. 

I have shivered in the cold, 

without enough clothing to keep me warm.

28 Then, besides all this, 

I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 

29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? 

Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?

30 If I must boast, 

I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 

31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, 

who is worthy of eternal praise, 

knows I am not lying. 

32 When I was in Damascus, 

the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 

33 I had to be lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall 

to escape from him.