What to Expect When You Take a Stand On Anything :: Deeper Devotion

By Carolina Kavanaugh

A little mindless entertainment

It was a typical evening for me. My husband and I had just finished cleaning up after dinner, and we sat down to see what was on TV in order to end the day with a little mindless entertainment. We ended up watching a show about 2 families who switch wives and consequently “moms.”

Although I had seen this show before, this one particular episode really made an impact on me because of one of the wives’ strong devotion to animal rights. Not only did she not eat any animal or animal byproduct, but she also didn’t wear any clothes that came from an animal. On top of that, she preached veganism openly and talked about how she hoped to plant seeds in people’s minds so that they too might consider veganism.

The mindless entertainment turns thought provoking

It wasn’t her devotion however that impacted me. Countless times I have witnessed many people who were devoted to all kinds of causes or ideals. What stunned me the most however, was the way that the show attempted to expose and utterly scrutinize any possible hypocrisy that they could find in her. For example, they would show a clip of her saying something passionate for her cause and then show a clip of her spanking the family dog for messing on the floor.

I have to admit that at first it was funny, but I realized that the bigger issue wasn’t that they were exposing a certain hypocrite, but that those who choose to take a stand for anything in this culture will always be judged and scrutinized. Whether you take a stand for animal rights, the environment, or the right to carry a gun, you will be criticized and judged, because that is what the world does. This world applauds people who tolerate anything and everything and choose the path of least resistance.

Nothing is really mindless

As Christians, we have to realize that it is not just because we are taking a stand for Jesus that we will be judged by our culture, but because we take a stand for anything at all.

As Christians, we have to realize that it is not just because we are taking a stand for Jesus that we will be judged by our culture, but because we take a stand for anything at all. Look around you and you will see people making decisions about things and right along side them you will see others criticizing and picking them apart.

So be encouraged in your stand for Jesus! Expect the scrutiny and be thankful that what you are taking a stand for has the one and only God behind it approving of you all along the way. When you realize that, it really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks or says. As for the vegan woman, I wish her the best, and I hope she finds Jesus because her kind of passion mixed in with a reckless abandon for God could be quite a sight!

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