Pastoring a Suffering Church

I've been reading "Pilgrim's Progress", one version for myself and another to my kids.  I also read 1 Peter 4 this morning.  I'm also a pastor.  Those three things came together and made this passage from Piper's "The Hidden Smile of God" quite sobering.  In 1684, Bunyan wrote a book, "Seasonable Counsel, or Advice to Sufferers" for his congregation.  This was just before a time in the history of England when over 300 Puritans were hanged and more than 800 were transported to Barbados.  Hundreds more were fined, flogged or imprisoned.

"The need for this "seasonable counsel" was not theoretical.  Some of his parishioners had already been imprisoned with him.  The threat was so real again that Bunyan deeded over all his possessions to his wife Elizabeth in the expectation that he might be imprisoned and made to pay fines that would take all his possessions.  It was no exaggeration when Bunyan wrote, "Our days indeed have been days of trouble, especially since the discovery of the Popish plot, for then we began to fear cutting of throats, of being burned in our beds, and of seeing our children dashed to pieces before our faces.""

I've tried to imagine what it would be like to look out from the pulpit at a congregation with these kinds of concerns.  I've tried to imagine the worry and fear they would be battling.  I know I preach to worrisome, fearful people on a weekly basis, but the situation Bunyan faced makes mine feel like a walk in the park.