Are You Okay Being Ridiculed?

Nice article by Toby Sumpter here:

Are you practicing being ashamed for doing the right thing?

Highlights:

"I see piles of Christians practicing for compromise. They put their tails between their legs and cower at the first signs of misunderstanding, at the first signs of difficulty, at the thought of being anything less than hip and trendy.

"I know that there is a deep swath of mindless, God-bless-America-Republican-Christians all over this country. They punch their tickets and vote the (R) line on their ballots like sheep led to the slaughter. I lived in South Carolina for two years, and they just reelected Mark Sanford. Sweet Fancy Moses. I know there are others on the right: the obsessive political Facebooking, email forwarding, conspiracy theorizing, let’s-nuke-em Tea Party fanatics. And I confess that their gun rallies still rub me the wrong way, though I have good friends who participate. I have a really hard time imagining Jesus recommending that His disciples join the Zealots in their protest of Roman tyranny. Though we should remember that Simon was a Zealot and one of the twelve. Jesus wasn’t ashamed. At the same time, I also cringe at the arrogance of some who mock the Tea Party gun hoarders while mincing about in their hipster dress ups, listening to the latest indie band...

"The love of God always touches down, it always takes up residence in stuff, in people, in things. It eats food, wears clothes, takes a wife, bears children, has neighbors.... It doesn’t give you a new appreciation for Quentin Tarantino movies. It doesn’t make you want to buy black rimmed glasses. It doesn’t give you gluten paranoia. It doesn’t drive you to stock pile weapons in your basement.

"It takes no courage to blend into a different crowd, to put on a different uniform, to seek justification from a new set of authorities....

"How will you practice not being ashamed? How will you practice joyful courage? What are you standing against? Who are you sharing the gospel with? How are you sacrificing for the sake of the poor? Who are you giving time and energy to, hoping for nothing in return? What enemy are you loving and praying for? How are you talking to your wife?

"The bottom line is: love Jesus and love your neighbor and refuse to be ashamed of anything. But it’s easy to say it and impossible to do it apart from the blood of Jesus making us completely free."