The shallow character of many strategies for renewal [of the Church] is revealed just to the extent that the resulting churches cannot understand how Christians might face persecutions. This is particularly a problem in America, where Christians cannot imagine how being a Christian might put them in tension with the American way of life. This is as true for Christians on the left as it is for Christians on the right. Both mistakenly assume, often in quite similar ways, that freedom is a necessary condition for discipleship.
— Stanley Hauerwas, Commentary on Matthew 13.