Laughed at, marginalised, persecuted

Jesus called the people and his disciples to him and said: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to win the whole world and ruin his life? And indeed what can a man offer in exchange for his life? For if anyone in this adulterous and sinful generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’ And he said to them, ‘I tell you solemnly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.’ (Mark 8, 34 - 9,1)

A disciple cannot expect to be treated better than his master. Christians know that the Lord died on the cross for the salvation of all people. The disciple who wants to follow Jesus must be willing to do the same, overcoming the fear of being laughed at, marginalised, persecuted even to the point of death if necessary. Jesus did not avoid suffering in order to carry out His mission. If you really want to follow Jesus, you should be suspicious when everyone seems to be speaking well of you. In fact this could be a sign that they are following the logic of the world and not of God.