By Doug Apple Manager, Wave94

{sidebar id=1}“So you work in radio?”

“Yep.”

“Which station?”

“Wave 94.”

“What kind of station is it?”

“Christian.”

Now let me tell you, that is a conversation killer.  It’s like you just pulled the pin on a grenade – people start backing away from you. 

No, not at church.  In Christian circles being in Christian radio kind of attracts people.  But most circles are not Christian circles.  And in those circles you drop the “C-bomb” to your own peril.

I’ve heard it hundreds of times.  “What kind of station?”  “Christian.”  “Oh…”

Sometimes you feel like you are standing there alone, just you and Jesus.  In the world at large, to be known as a true Christian is social suicide.  No one wants to be a “social leper,” so we are tempted to be a chameleon, to blend in with those around us.  Now listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 10:  “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”

I may not know much, but there is one thing I know for sure.  I definitely do not want Jesus to disown me.  Yet if I disown Him, that’s exactly what He says He will do – disown me.  So what should I do?  I should acknowledge Him before men.  I think it’s quite simple.  We let people know that we know Jesus, that we are Christians.  We are not ashamed of it.  We don’t back away from it.  And we don’t worry about the social consequences.

You might say, “Well, I don’t want to bring it up because it’s divisive.”

Then think about what Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, “…I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus is divisive, He says so Himself.

Sometimes we stick Jesus in the closet to keep other people happy.  But that just means we love those people more than we love Jesus.  And if we love anyone more than Jesus, then we are not worthy of Him.* 

Yes, I think in many settings it is social suicide to stand for Christ.  So be it.  If that’s the result, then you’ll just have to commit social suicide.  Remember Jesus said to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.  In a sense, it is suicide to follow Jesus.  A death occurs, a death to ourselves.

Here’s another great verse in Matthew 10.  Look at verse 27:  “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”

Picture that in your mind, standing on a rooftop proclaiming the words of Jesus.  Talk about social suicide.  Yet that’s what He told us to do.

I remember living in an apartment one time and I put a giant poster about Jesus on my patio door facing the courtyard.  I was soon called into the apartment manager’s office.  Jesus brings a divisive sword.  It will separate you from most social circles.

In Matthew 10:22 Jesus said, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Focus on those two words, “Stand firm.”

When you are tempted to water down your witness, stand firm.  When you are tempted to play the chameleon, stand firm.  When it separates you from your social circle at work or at school, stand firm.  Even when it looks like social suicide, stand firm.

Yes, it might cost you your “life,” but take to heart the words of Jesus, “…whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Better a small social circle with Jesus, than a large social circle without Him.

Comments?

E-mail me:  dougapple@wave94.com.

May God bless you today!  With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.

*  Matthew 10:37

This article originally published on July 23, 2007.

Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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