We rejoice that we have been given the living and active Word of God with which to fight the rulers of the darkness of this world. We rejoice when men speak evil of us for his sake. That is, among those who are called Christians there are a few who actually follow Christ and experience the persecution he told his followers to expect. For these we rejoice. There are no cowardly Christians.
Courage is a requirement for the job.
As Bonhoeffer reminds us, when Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die. Unless we take up our cross and follow him to death, we cannot one day lay aside that cross and follow him to life.