Make them mad

(Guest Post by Drew)

Last week at a family reunion, I was talking with one of my cousins. She considers herself anti-abortion, but she suggested that her two anti-abortion roommates went too extreme by creating a “Cemetary of Innocents” at her university. In their pretend “cemetary,” her friends erected crosses for all the unborn children killed during the year. Apparently, their group received some negative comments from the college community. People didn’t like being reminded about the slaughter. In light of this negative feedback, my cousin concluded that their project had been a mistake.

Of course, if my cousin were not a girl, I would have told her to “man up.”

Islam is spreading like the plague, and compared to the Christian Church, even ridiculous cults like Mormonism are gaining traction. What is the reason? Christians have grown weak. Muslims unapologetically speak their minds, but Christians feel like they have to care what others think about them. Too many Christians have grown afraid, afraid to tell the truth, afraid even to make people mad. Ideally, Jesus said that we should only fear God (Matthew 10:28).

In fact, Jesus never cared much about the opinions of others (Luke 4:28-29). You shouldn’t either. Speak the truth. Infuriate people if you have to. Overall, people generally respect you more when you completely ignore their opinions. Sometimes it’s even fun to make them mad!

But you may be wondering, Well Drew, maybe the “cemetary” was just too much; all it did was make people feel bad! Oh, the naivete of the timid…

Briefly consider one of my friends at school:  A mindless liberal. Actually, most of my friends are mindless liberals, but that’s beside the point. When I told this mindless liberal friend I was “anti-abortion,” he responded that, ”No one supports abortions.” Oh, of course not. And to prove his absolute opposition to abortion, he periodically insults the local protesters at my city’s abortion clinic. These protesters, he claims, are just making young girls “feel bad” about their “decision.”

Yeah, I think that’s the point!

Jesus told people to repent because he could quench their thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). But before a sinner can thirst for righteousness, he must first understand that he lacks righteousness. Society used to help accomplish that step for us, but the Age of Tolerance has eroded much of society’s convicting power. With society so non-judgemental that individuals have grown apathetic toward sin, why should sinners repent? Before you can repent, you need to feel bad about your own evil acts.

So don’t ever kick yourself just for making someone feel bad.

And ultimately, you can never appease mindless liberals, anyway. Guilty minds will react negatively to any moral statement, no matter how seemingly unprovocative. Once you tear down your fake cemetary, the liberals will blast you for something else. (If you speak your mind at all, you’re still making women “feel bad.”) Any statement of truth will infuriate the enemy, so infuriate them. Do not apologize!

Besides, life is more fun when you don’t give a flip what anyone thinks about you except God.