Stop Caring What the World Thinks

“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe”.  I Timothy 4:10

Living for Christ is the best life that anyone can have, but it’s not always an easy life, particularly for those Christians who still have one foot in the world.  In other words, those who are conflicted about living the Christlike life in a world geared toward everything that is anti-God sometimes find it difficult to remain completely committed to righteousness and truth because their labor seems to bring either indifference or reproach from those with whom they come in contact.  They find the road of righteousness a difficult one because sometimes they worry about what other people think.  Whoever said that the world’s opinion of an individual is what matters?  They, whoever they are, say that one can’t please all of the people all of the time, but trying to please just about anyone these days is an exercise in futility.

Years ago, most people lived in an area that was populated by likeminded folks, not necessarily others with the same spiritual beliefs, but those with similar likes, dislikes, ideals, and morals.  We now live in a country that is highly diverse–different ideas, morals, beliefs, and customs, which is fine until it causes conflict, and conflict has certainly been the name of the game for the last twenty or so years.  Years ago, other folks may not have been accepting of our spiritual beliefs, but they had a “live and let live” attitude.  Today, those who are followers of Christ are singled out as racist, homophobes, intolerant, backward, and a host of other not-so-nice descriptions.  Thus, those who are not strong in their faith, even though they are believers in Christ, are afraid to voice their opinion, and certainly do not want to rock the boat by saying that Jesus is the only way to the Father.  The anti-God, anti-Christian crowd has certainly been successful at keeping many believers in the closet and not necessarily the “prayer closet” (Matthew 6:6).

Christian maturity and the courage to face the giants of doubt, skepticism, ridicule, and sometimes persecution is what separates “the men from the boys” or in faith circles, the determined from the deterred.  When one knows who he or she is in Christ, the world’s opinion of him or her has no value.  I know that, in the world’s view, I am a nobody, but knowing that Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, died for me, gives me a value that the world can never offer.  Paul wrote in Romans 5:6-8 that there might be a person who would give his life for a righteous or a good person–maybe–but God loved His creation so much that He allowed Jesus to die for us sinners.  We are all sinners–every one of us.  There is no person alive who is “good”.  Many think they are “good”, but King David wrote in Psalm 14:3 that “there is none that doeth good, no, not one”.

In the above verse, Paul wrote that the living God is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe.  He was not teaching a form of universalism which holds that all people will be saved.  Rather, he meant that all people have the potential to be saved because Christ died for all, and God’s desire is for all to be saved (I Timothy 2:4), but only those who respond to Christ in repentance and belief will become the brothers and sisters of Christ and the sons and daughters of God.  No matter how “good” a person thinks that he or she is, if they do not have the blood of Christ covering their sin, they are not part of God’s family.  Their sin is exposed, separating them from God, who cannot accept any form of sin.  Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good; He came to make folks dead in their sins alive unto Himself.

Many of us do not like conflict or confrontation with others.  It is easier to keep quiet and avoid someone’s rejection of us.  However, Jesus was always in someone’s face, particularly those who rejected Him.  He desired to help them see the light, acknowledge their sin, and be forgiven.  Shouldn’t that be the desire of all Christians?  We need to stop caring what the world thinks and care about what God thinks.  Jesus didn’t die for us to cower in some corner fearful that someone might call us a name.  We have the greatest truth to share with others, thus we should be about the business of sharing that truth.  If they refuse to listen, then that’s on them.