When Christian artist, Lauren Daigle, was asked on "The Domenick Nati Show" on iHeart radio, "do you feel that homosexuality is a sin?", she responded with, "I can't honestly answer on that", "In a sense, I have too many people that I love that are homosexual. I don't know. I actually had a conversation with someone last night about it. I can't say one way or the other. I'm not God." When host Joy Behar on "The View" asked Pastor Karl Lentz directly whether abortion is sinful, he responded, "That's the kind of conversation we would have finding out your story, where you're from, what you believe. I mean, God's the judge," at which the audience broke into raucous applause. "People have to live to their own convictions," Lentz continued. "That's such a broad question, to me, I'm going higher. I want to sit with somebody and say, 'What do you believe?'" It's easy to affirm one another when before like minded individuals, but when before those who disagree, do we duck the question and try to appear middle of the road or are we willing to take the unpopular stance and side with God? When we side with what the Bible clearly states, others might disagree and even persecute you, but a decision must be made what we trust in and what we believe. If we boldly stand on the rock of Scripture and take the attack that follows, remember what God said to Samuel in 1 Samuel 8:7, "...for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me,...". Our opinion is not as important to what has been clearly stated in His Word. In fact, as we move along progressively in sanctification, our opinion should mirror His Word.

When David fled from Saul, we see his army, eventually his mighty men of valor, described in 1 Samuel 22:2, "And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him." This sounds like a pretty lowly group. But when you think about it, God needs His people to be distressed about the condition of the world; indebted to Him, realizing their need for Him; and discontented with the way things are, looking for God to work. With God, these guys became mighty men." When Ahimilech, the priest, is cornered by Saul and his army in pursuit of David and is questioned about what part he played in David's escape, the priest answered in 22:14, "So Ahimilech answered the king and said, "And who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, who goes at your bidding, and is honorable in your house?" Ahimilech could have lied, but he remained honest, which as we read in 22:18 cost him his life.

It is easy to be bold in front of the choir. Everyone likes to be liked and agreed with. When everyone agrees with the Biblical stance on abortion and homosexuality, it is easy to speak loudly and boldly about it. But what do we do when not in front of like-minded individuals? Do we duck the question? Do we pretend not to hear correctly? Do we attempt to stay middle of the road? There is no excuse for hateful or degrading talk ever. But are we willing to uphold God's stance which is clearly stated in Scripture? We can't pretend issues are unclear when God has clarified them for us. If we uphold God’s Word publicly we will find ourselves marginalized and persecuted as did David's mighty men. But don't we want to be in the small group following the narrow road that Jesus described in Matthew 7:13-14? In our jobs we must make a decision whether we are going to compromise or assimilate. As Christians, part of the reason we find ourselves in the position we now do, is because rather than speak out we have chosen to remain quiet and allowed the ungodly forces present in the world to dictate the direction of current events. The decisions are often painful, but ultimately a stance must be taken. Do we belong to Him or the world? Perhaps speaking out your convictions and finding yourselves in the arms of the rest of us "misfits of society" is exactly where God wants you to be.