Mainstream Christianity?

Lately I have been trying to answer this question: Can Christianity be both authentic and mainstream? In other words, can true discipleship happen where there is little opposition and struggle? Maybe, I have been reading Kierkegaard too much. Being counter-cultural seems to be an essential part of being a follower of Jesus. Historically, a case can be made that the Church went into a spiritual decline as soon as it became a dominant faith of a particular society. When becoming a Christian brings social status and material gain, one should hardly expect many people converting simply because of Jesus.