Bullied Into Disobedience

I was listening to Wayne Braudrick, a local pastor, on the radio the other day. He recounted several stories of Mexican Christians who have been tormented, kidnapped, even murdered, for not bowing down to drug cartels. He quoted one Mexican Christian who is quite vocal and was questioned about his boldness. His response was "I will not be bullied into disobeying God." As Wayne talked on, my mind stayed on that quote and its truth: bullied into disobeying God. Isn't that much of what we face these days?

Let's face it, Christian, we aren't loved by a lot of people. And as much as we like to blame Christians for this (we're an easy scapegoat--you'll always find unhealthy people in a place designed for those who need a doctor), a lot of the anger and hate directed at us comes from people who want to force us to think and believe and act like they do.

If the way to death is wide and the road to life is narrow, it really shouldn't surprise us that a majority of people these days want to make us be like them. They despise the narrow road and they despise its travelers more. And many of them are not content with scorn from afar. They have a mission to force those on the narrow road over to the wide road. And this leads them to become if not physical, verbal bullies.

If you don't believe what they do, they will call you ignorant, intolerant, radical. If you don't act like they do, they will call you bigoted, unfeeling, cold. If you don't jump on their bandwagons, they will call you anti-progress, anti-modernism, antiquated. If you dare to say you believe in the Bible, they will call you stupid, dumb, naive. They will berate and berate and berate. And they hope, if they keep it up long enough, they'll knock you flat and you'll drag your sorry self over to the wide road.

Many do fall down and crawl penitently over to the wide road. When they get there, they are so praised and loved, they feel good about it. They make up reasons they really didn't disobey God, reasons why the wide road is actually the right one. They figure if the majority is on the wide road, it's got to be the right one. And they look back at the narrow road and point fingers at the bigoted, ignorant rabble they used to walk with.

Yes, Christian, you will be bullied. If not in person, certainly by media, especially social media. You'll be lambasted for taking certain stands and speaking certain truths. You'll be chastised by those who are sure they are right and you are the problem with the world today. They will harangue because they want you to stop doing what you're doing and believing what you believe.

But you know what? I have decided that like the Mexican Christian, I will not be bullied into disobeying God. Those on the wide road can stomp their feet and point their fingers and shout angrily. They can rant on social media, roll their eyes, and call me whatever they want. I will not be bullied into disobeying God. I will not be bullied into compromising Biblical truth. I will not be bullied into changing my life to make myself more comfortable. No. My God is my God and His truth is truth and I will not be moved.