In a world that seeks after success, security, satisfaction and praise, I want to seek to be hated.

Let me stop the confusing look on your face and explain what I mean by that.

I want to be like Jesus.

Today, in a world seeking the things I stated before, I want to show them Jesus. I want to show them the Jesus of scripture. The one that was unapologetically here to share and show truth, no matter the opinion of others.

"There was division among the Jew because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane. Others said, "These aren't the words of a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" John 10:19

Looking at the verse above, it is easy to see that Jesus was not wanted among a large population; he was seen as a lunatic, a false prophet or demonic. Any of those roles takes him away from who he was: our Savior.

We don't get to choose who Jesus is, we don't get to claim why he came to earth, we only get to read the truth he gave and have grace cover our failure as we follow Him.

That is why I want to be hated. If you are truly speaking the truth of Jesus, it is not going to sit well with everyone. It's going to leave people uncomfortable, and in our world of seeking comfort, many will harden their hearts and turn their backs. But that shouldn't stop you from speaking the truth. Not the truth that is going to make them feel secure in who they are, but a truth that is going to send a radical transformation into them and strip away everything that's not like Jesus.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" John 15:18-22

For many of us, we think that by claiming truth or speaking the words of Jesus we are "shoving the bible" in their face or we come up with excuses such as: we need to respect their opinions — it's their life, I can just pray for them, it's just easier to not say anything.

We do need to respect people, but we have to respect God first and the charge he gave us to speak His name. It's scary and it's uncomfortable, but that's the cost when you gave your life to Jesus and anything less than that is cheapening what He did on the cross for you.

This leads me back to this: I want to be hated.

I want to clarify something, because I know that phrase doesn't sit well and honestly is a little weird to type but my heart behind it is I want to unapologetically speak the truth of Jesus. Not my own truth or the things I think should be true, but the red words printed on my bible. I want those words to come to life through me, and with that, I have to surrender to the thought that being hated might come with that territory and not have it stop me. I want to push people past their comfort zones, I want to speak the name of Jesus in everything I do and I want to show others the freedom in surrendering to Him. But none of that is going to come without a cost. It's a cost of our own life.

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

If we are called to be like Jesus, if we are called to make disciples like Jesus did, like his apostles did, then what makes us think that our ministry is going to look differently than theirs?

In Acts, we are shown the ministry of Stephen. In just two chapters, we see the courage, boldness and faith of the first man after Jesus, to die for the message Jesus came to give. Stephen caused people to feel uncomfortable, and they hated him for it, but that wasn't what his focus was on. Just like Jesus, Stephen wanted people to see the goodness of what the Holy Spirit was saying through him and he was going to tell it, not matter the cost. Even when the cost of his on life was on the line, it didn't stand between him and the message he came to speak. The chances of you being stoned to death like Stephen is rare, the chances of you having to radically defend what you believe in front of the government is rare, but that doesn't mean your faith to do it should be less than willing. I feel like in Christianity today, we are too comfortable with American Christianity, which doesn't come with much sacrifice. So when it is called to tear us from any form of security, we don't know what to do; the thought of being hated for something we believe is just outright crazy.

In the end, as long as I am speaking the truth of Jesus and holding fast in what I believe, I don't care how crazy it seems. I will take up my cross and follow Him.