2nd Timothy 4:16-17 "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."

I received an email one time from a missionary in a Spanish-speaking country who expressed desire to stand for the RVG but was struggling with the idea of doing so because of friends who disagreed. He said:
"I want to take the same stand that you take because I believe it is the right position. But what about everyone else who doesn't believe like you? Who am I to go against the beliefs of such great men of God?"
I tried my best to encourage this brother to follow his conscience and to live by principle rather than worry about what everyone else thinks.
We claim to have "convictions" today. But many of our so-called "convictions" are really just positions of CONVENIENCE. It is easy to "stand" for something when everyone else around you takes the same stand. But a stand is not a REAL stand until you have something to lose (Mat. 10:39, Mat. 16:25, Luke 17:33). What are you going to do when everyone else around you is opposed to what you believe? You will then have 2 choices:
1. Stay quiet and don't rock the boat.
2. Stand for what you believe no matter the cost.
If you choose option 2, be prepared to be criticized, ridiculed, and ostracized for it. But that's the problem. Christians today cannot take criticism any more. They can't handle the heat. They've lost their backbone. So they must try to appease their conscience by convincing themselves that there is some kind of virtue in not taking a stand for what they believe in order to get along well with their peers.
I suspect that these are folks that never really got over that peer pressure that plagued them in their youth. Today, most people haven't.
Good character is demonstrated by those who have learned to divorce themselves from peer pressure. The ones that have done that will be leaders. The ones that don’t will limit their opportunity to be the influential leaders that God called them to be.
Most people today are not leaders. They are reeds shaken with the wind.
A true leader is driven by principle. He is a man of conviction. His principles and convictions are so important to him that nothing can deter him. He is willing to pay the price if necessary to inspire others to consider his convictions. Why? Because a conviction is not really a conviction if you don’t think others should believe the same thing. A man of conviction doesn’t assume all will adopt his conviction, but he wishes they would.
In fact, he is so obsessed with this certain principle that he is willing to stand against the whole world if necessary.
People will label him an extremist. Winston Churchill who said, "The secret to success is extremism." Some may disagree with Churchill yet it was Churchill who decided to stand against Hitler when everyone else thought Hitler was undefeatable and therefore it was wiser to surrender to him. Isn't Europe, and the whole world, glad that Churchill decided not to back down. I know that Winston Churchill was a controversial figure, but that's just it. Controversial people like him are the ones who experience great victories. Those who are intimidated by controversy must settle for mediocrity.
Consider the stories of the following "extremists". Noah, Moses, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshack, Abednego, Elijah, David, Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ.
Were not these men controversial? What could be more extreme than building an ark to prepare for an upcoming worldwide flood in a time when no one had ever seen rain? What could be more extreme than demanding Pharoah of Egypt to let all his slaves go and then threaten him with the judgment of God if he doesn't comply? What could be more extreme than telling a world emperor that you will not comply with his worship service despite his threats to burn you alive in a fiery furnace? What could be more extreme than challenging hundreds of priests and telling them that you're going to call down fire from heaven to burn a sacrifice before the whole nation? What could be more extreme than a carpenter's son claiming to be the Son of God and sticking by that claim even unto the death of the cross?
These men were leaders. They were champions. But they were controversial extremists in the eyes of others. They were not appreciated by the status quo. They were looked at as troublemakers, disturbers of the peace, non-conformists, unfriendly, heretics, and even criminals. Yet they all had something in common. They were right! And they were so convinced of it that NOTHING could stop them.
Are you right? If you are than QUIT WORRYING ABOUT WHAT EVERYONE ELSE WILL THINK OF YOU! Quit worrying of how everyone else will react to your position. Be a man of principle. Be like Jesus! If you cannot, than please do everyone a favor and do not take on a position of leadership. Because the fruit of your ministry will only be more cowards who will also be afraid to take a stand and less valiant men like Jesus, David, Noah, Moses, etc.
No you don’t have to be a jerk about it. I know that there are some who act as if being a jerk about things is the fruit of the Spirit. But you can display everything that is the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, etc.) and still take a bold stand for the truth like Paul, and John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and every one else who ever made a difference.
To refuse to take a stand for what is right because you are worried about losing the acceptance of people you admire is not being diplomatic. Its called cowardice. Cowards inspire no one. Courageous people like David who step up to the challenge of facing what everyone else thinks is undefeatable are the ones who become champions and inspire others to likewise become giant slayers (like the mighty men of David).
Where are the champions today?!
Instead of worrying of how the rest of the good brethren will react, let's take on an aggressively optimistic approach (another good leadership characteristic) and insist on winning these good brethren over by setting the example. Let's do what all the valiant leaders in the Bible did and stand by our principles believing that if we do so others will eventually follow. But let's also be resolved in our souls that even if others don't we still will not bow down to the image that Nebuchadnezzar set up regardless of the outcome.
Stop being intimidated by Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace! The Son of God will be there with us and when it's all said and done we're going to come out of the furnace just fine. So long as the LORD stands with us, we have nothing to fear. So stand for what you believe in and watch how rewarding it will be to know that you chose to be a champion rather than a coward!
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