“12 Dear friends, dont be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory. 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. 16 But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name. 17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with Gods household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?
19 So those who suffer according to Gods will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselves to a faithful Creator.”
1 Peter 4:12-19
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We should not be surprised when hardship comes our way as a result of standing for truth in Christ. We are never promise any kind of exemption too suffering once we come under His care. Once we are baptized into Him, we are joined with Him and if Christ suffered, was mocked and ridiculed, then surely His followers will be as well. It is not that we seek public humiliation as a way to show our piety. Instead, we can simply be assured that our positions and stances that stand contrary to the flesh, that stand in opposition to the world, will catch the eye of those living according to it, and they will, in their discomfort, lash out at us.

No one likes to be shown to be wrong. No one likes their dirty laundry aired out. As Christians, and bearers of the truth of God, we are that light that goes into dark places of pride-filled rationalization and entitlement, and those attitudes and philosophies do not stand for close scrutinization. They do not like to be examined, evaluated or critiqued. And when we stand in truth, speaking it even in love, we must know that we will be opposed by this world and those who belong to it.

Jesus Himself said:
“26 Woe to you
when all people speak well of you,
for this is the way their ancestors
used to treat the false prophets.” – Luke 6

If the world likes us and our message, treats us like we are one if its own, we can be assured that something in our doctrine and understanding of truth is broken. If we are going to GoLove in the fullness and truth of Jesus Christ, then we must do so knowing that the world is not going to fawn over us because of it. Rather, they will hate us, revile us and ridicule us. Peter did not originate this teaching. It comes from Jesus Himself, and Peter is simply repeating what he heard his Master say:

“18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.” – John 15

So, go in the spirit of Christ, remembering how the world treated Him. Mayors may subpoena sermons, leaders may ridicule us and chide us for our beliefs, but when we stand in truth with Christ, we know we are where we ought to be.