Perhaps the problem with Christianity today is that it's to easy. There is no great public struggle. Sure, we are told to hold to our morals, but there are plenty of non-churched people who don't steal or curse or have sex out of marriage. Many teens and adults have made the decision not to smoke, do drugs, or drink. Many so-called Christians abandon these values that they claim to uplift and commit all of these crimes.
There is no passion to study the Bible and discover how God asks us to live. No fire in our bellies to bring others to the Truth. The need for others to experience what we have in God is so low because our own experience with Him has not reached even close to its full potential. The overwhelming desire to share the peace and completeness of Christ is so rarely felt because we ourselves are rarely peaceful or complete! Because of this, we ignore our very purpose on earth. "You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Cor. 6:19b-20) We are supposed to be dedicated to God, wholly and daily.
Early Roman Christians displayed their willingness to die for the same Christ we have. Every single day, because of the faith they had, their lives were on the line. And people noticed. Being a follower of Christ was hard, so when Christians kept going, those who were watching them decided that if He was worth dying for, He must be worth living for. Life may have been harder, but it made all the more difference.
Back then, accepting Christ meant you knew your life was going to change. It wasn't necessarily easier, but they took it on anyway. Everyone, yes, everyone was allowed to join, and many took the opportunity. The attitude wasn't, "Let's show off how good we are", or, "How can the church benefit". It was, "How many people can we love and bring to Christ". Church wasn't a once-a-week thing. It was a culture. Living in that culture meant risking your life, but it was so much more like God intended it to be.
