 I don't know if that was a factor or not. Of all the different proposed causes, I think this is maybe the least likely one. Some commentaries don't even mention it at all. But it's possible. Another possibility, there was a famine in the area of Judah in the mid-40s, and it's possible that they were still trying to recover from that famine. And that would have affected really the entire economy of that region, not just the Christians there.