Going Against The Worlds Opinion

In summary of Matthew 10:32 it says, "Everyone who acknowledges and confesses following me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven."

Bottom Line:
To those who acknowledge and profess their faith in Him before others publicly, He will likewise be acknowledge by Jesus before the Father.

What this means to me:
If I stand up for Jesus publically, against the worlds opinion, Jesus will stand up for me before the Father in Heaven and vouch for me.  I can’t turn tail and run as it wouldn’t show my real faith and reveal that I’m more afraid of men and their opinions than God.  To live with uncommon courage and stand up for Christ, I need to learn how to clarify my worldview (what I’m basing my beliefs on) and understand the non-Christian worldviews:

• Materialism: What matters most is money/possessions.  In this view, success is measured by wealth.  However, we did not come into the world with anything and we will leave it with nothing.  Then why would it be beneficial to build up a pile of things that you will leave behind?  The greatest things in life aren’t things.
• Hedonism: Whatever feels good is good.  Pleasure is the goal and the god. In this view life is to be comfortable and fun.  What we find in scripture is that happiness is not the goal in life; happiness is a byproduct of living out your purpose.  God provides happiness to the ones who please him.
• Individualism: What I want comes first.  God didn’t create us to live for ourselves.  If we are to follow Jesus, you have to put aside your selfish ambition.  
• Socialism: Government should control everything. There is nothing wrong with politics, but it shouldn’t be your savior.  We are to be responsible citizens, but we do now own government our lives.  A greater loyalty should be to God and not government.  

The result of folks following these worldviews is a crumbling of our culture, crisis in our schools, corruption in our businesses, chaos in our government, carnality in our churches, confusion in our families, and conflicts in our personal lives.  Any time we miss following the owners manual (His Word) we are the ones who end up getting hurt.  When we break God’s laws we are really breaking us.  I believe God is call me to stand up for his truth “against world opinion.”  This will require really having a solid foundation in God’s Word and the uncommon courage that will come from my relationship with him.  Today I will make it a priority to go back though the notes on the “Truth Project” and really grasp the worldviews presented there and the contrasting views of God.