"But if we ever were really persecuted, would it be because..."

"Although professing Christians are in the majority, we often like to pretend we are persecuted flock being prepared for imminent slaughter through the combined energies of Hollywood and the Democratic Party. But if we ever were really persecuted, would it be because of our offensive posturing and self-righteousness or because we would not weaken the offense of the cross? ... My concern is not that God is treated so lightly in American culture but that he is not taken seriously in our own faith and practice" (Michael Horton, Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church, 23).