If we are going to live as genuine disciples of Jesus Christ then we are going to need to live courageously. As you take a look back through Scripture you see that those who sought to truly worship God and obey him were often called to exhibit courage in the face of fear – Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, Peter, John, Paul, Timothy, etc. Jesus doesn’t call his followers to pursue comfort, stability, the approval of others, or societal status.

In their book, “Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme”, the authors, Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman make the comment, “For many people of faith it’s becoming harder to live their convictions outside of their religious communities. It feels as though forces are pushing religion to the margins. In fact, to many people, faith is irrelevant and even bad news.”