IN A CITY far away from where you live, there once were two men. Both were religious men. Both were very God-fearing. But neighbors would confide to a stranger that both of them were rather peculiar. And the popular religious leaders disliked them both.
They tried to trap the first one in his words (Luke 11:54). They misjudged his motives (John 19:22). They even said he was insane (John 8:48; 10:20). That man was the Lord Jesus Christ. Finally they nailed him to a cross and left him to die.
The second fellow lived some years later. He got off to a bad start when he switched religions. And such a pity-he had studied for the ministry under the best professors of the day. His former churchmen, more concerned with party politics than truth, called him their enemy (Galatians 4:16). They tried more than once to kill him (Acts 23:12). They hounded him all over the Roman Empire. Some said he was beside himself (II Corinthians 5:12). He was the apostle Paul.
Both Jesus and Paul would have had popular careers had they only conformed. But truth was more important to them than popularity. The person who is convinced of that today is sometimes lied about, too. He is often slandered and misjudged. Truth is not always popular. It is always truth. What is more important to you?