Have you been accused of being transphobic, homophobic, xenophic, ad nauseum?

Don’t allow someone to bully you simply because you don’t hold to the same opinion they do. 

I continue to watch the “tolerant” be the most intolerant, bigoted, and hateful.  To them, free speech is only free when it’s their opinion coming out of your mouth.

As I watch sexuality and racism politicized by grandstanding politicians, celebrities, and social media conglomerates, I find myself, first of all, not at all caring what they think.  But, I also find myself resolved in knowing that each one of us has not only the freedom, but the right to hold to our own individual, personal convictions.

Me? My convictions come from a biblical worldview, and I will never shrink away from that.  Are there some “gray” areas? Sure.  But, where the Bible doesn’t address a topic with specifics, it always does in principle.

For the Christian, the Word of God is our sole authority for what is right and what is wrong.  It is the filter through which we form our convictions, our politics, our ethics, our morality.

When someone tries to accuse me of being backward, old-fashioned, out of touch, or even hateful, my response is always the same:

“Your argument is not with me, it’s with Christ.  Please, study the scriptures and show me where the Bible teaches that you’re right and I’m wrong.  Frankly, it would make my life a lot easier.” 

They never can.

I would never bully someone into compromising their religious convictions. While the mainstream would explode if we verbally assaulted religious beliefs outside Christianity, the Christian faith is always fair game to be mocked and insulted.  This is the definition of hypocrisy.  Why we can be maligned as (fill in the blank)-phobic, our accusers are actually Christ-phobic.

But, Jesus said this would be the case.

When Jesus was praying the night before he would be tortured and crucified, he told his Father,

“I have given them your word and the world has hated them,…” – John 17:14

Today, Jesus would have already been accused of hate-speech.  Blocked from social media.  And, castigated and vilified for his “intolerance.”  (In essence, that’s precisely what happened twenty centuries ago.  And they killed him for it.)

But, if Jesus texted us today he would say, “Be fearless. Never – never – be afraid of standing up for what you believe.”

That’s why Jesus finished the verse cited above with,

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” – vss 15-17

I heard a pastor say once,

“Jesus had the ability to profoundly disagree with people [their lifestyles] while, simultaneously, profoundly loving and caring for them.”

Disagreement does not mean hate.  Regardless of the media’s narrative to the contrary.

The quote here from Rick Warren is one of my favorites on this topic.

Be fearless, nw