Sin Archive

Being a radical for Jesus will cost you. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that it won’t. There’s a reason why lukewarm Christianity is so tempting—it requires so little from us. To keep water cold or hot, you have to work at it. You either need to keep adding ice or keep adding heat. For lukewarm water, you can just let your cup sit on the counter. It requires no effort, no time, no energy. Effortless faith may sound appealing, but think about what’s really at stake.

Yesterday I told you my hypothesis that the two biggest roadblocks to radical faith among young women are busyness and prayerlessness. Often, these two issues create a chicken-and-egg scenario in our lives. We’re too busy, so we don’t pray. We don’t pray, so we don’t know God’s priorities for our day and we spend our time being uselessly busy. In a world that races at warp speed, it seems impossible to stop the madness.

What do “radicals” in the Bible have in common? It’s a short list and a tall order, but basically it means that you can be a radical, too. There’s nothing on that list that is impossible for you. There’s nothing on that list that requires you to be older, more financially stable, or have a college degree. No matter who you are or where you live, you can have a radical faith.

If Jesus says we can expect persecution (and He does), then I sure want to know how to prepare for it. So with the help of Thomas Watson’s book The Beatitudes, I came up with the following eight ways to prepare for persecution.

Sharing the gospel is one of the greatest privileges that we have as Christians. We get to tell people about what Jesus did for them on the cross and how they can spend eternity with Him in heaven forever. What better news is there than that?

Persecution is a reality that gives me the willies. I don’t like to think about the persecution the disciples faced after Jesus’ death. I squirm when I consider Jesus’ words that persecution is a blessing, because it’s hard for me to see it that way. And so sometimes I try to convince myself that persecution is a thing of the past. But the reality is that Christians are being persecuted right now. Here are a few of their stories . . .

It’s lovely to think of being a Christian is like striking it rich, but don’t miss the rest of the story.