Luke 6:24-26, 7:31-32
Matthew 10:16-23

"Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets (Luke 6:26)."

     The Minnesota Twins stepped out into a stadium full of blue t-shirts when they came to play Kansas City.  Their man stepped up to bat, swung and received a resounding boo as they scored a home run.
     They were on enemy turf.  The only time anyone would cheer for them would be if they made a mistake and let the Royals win.  A boo, therefore, would be the greatest compliment they could ever hope to receive, the more the better.  It showed them that they had done something right.
     I'm not a fan of the Twins, and I don't like sports, but that image stuck with me.  A team that actually aims to be the object of booing!
     There have been many times where I have been attacked on the internet for sharing my faith, even by one of my best friends.  People have banned me from e-mail groups and Livejournal communities, or written special rules to prevent anything like what I did to be repeated.
     I've written supposedly `private messages' to group members, attempting to share my faith with them, individually, only to have them report me, en masse, to the admin, that `best friend' I had.
     Although my methods may not have been very well practiced or strategized beforehand, in the arena of spiritual conflict, I must have been doing something right to get such a resounding boo.
     Every day, we Christians are stepping into a world that is like that Kansas City stadium.  We're surrounded by great crowds of unbelievers that cheer at our every misstep.
     This is why it's dangerous to make yourself popular at the expense of your faith.
     Jesus warns us of this in Luke 6.  If you are well received by men, beware, for false prophets are often popular.
     I'm not saying that we should go out of our way to offend people, I'm just saying we should do our job.  Don't be an Oprah Winfrey and tell people to "remember their spirit", don't be Miss Manners and refuse to discuss religion with your friends.  If they blow up on you, they're on the other team, and you just scored a point.
     Be loving, but remember that the opposition cheers the loudest when you strike out on purpose or wait for the first baseman to tag you out.

Dear Father in heaven, I care too much about what people think about me.  Let me do what is right in your sight, even if everyone hates me for it.  I pray this in Jesus' name.  Amen.