The gospel will always be counter-cultural.
Listen to Luke 6:
20And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed [happy] are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.
23“Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets.
24“But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.
25“Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.
27“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29“Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.
30“Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
31“Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
33“If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
34“If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.
35“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
36“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned.
38“Give, and it will be given to you. . . For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”
The text really speaks for itself. I don’t think I even need to mention that I struggle (we all struggle, in differing degreees) to live this way.
Christ came into our world this way: poor, hungry, weeping, hated by men, insulted and scorned for righteousness’ sake, kind to ungrateful and evil men. He loved men who hated Him–and He died for them! He calls us to that same radical, counter-cultural, self-denying, Christ-exalting life.
But the paradoxical beauty of this kind of living is that ultimately, as we give up ourselves, our lives, our “rights” to follow Christ, we will experience the greatest riches and satisfaction imaginable as we pursue God’s kingdom!
I’m praying that He will change me into this kind of person!