ChuckBalsamo.com

Happy Friday!

Had an interesting conversation with my dear friend Wayne Howard last night. He actually asked me to be more RADICAL!

Me??? More radical! Ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa! Coming right up! lol

Really, this friend came to me in great humility and said the following, “When I first started following your blog, you were a whole lot more BOLD than you are today. It seems today like you’re trying to keep from offending people… like you’re trying to play it safe… and you’re not challenging me like you once did.”

He continued, “I’m not saying that I agreed with all your thoughts… in fact, you riled me up a few times, you made me mad a few times… but, I would rather be riled up than to read something from middle ground that fails to MOVE ME!”

I appreciated his courageous feedback… and I’ve been thinking about his comments since that conversation. And you know what? He’s right!

I Became Paranoid

You see, 2009 was a year of unprecedented betrayal and rejection for me… and it left me more than a little paranoid! Not wanting to EVER repeat that kind of agony, I subconsciously moved toward middle ground. I didn’t like the feeling of being rejected like that… so I decided to adjust my approach, in an attempt to keep more people liking me!

Don’t be too hard on me… I bet you’ve done the same thing in your own life! And if we’re ALL not very careful… we will move towards middle ground every time we are rejected, until we’re not really presenting an ORIGINAL life or message.

Jesus Was a Radical!

The ultimate Christian challenge is to become more like Jesus. Jesus did not spend his life at MIDDLE GROUND. Despite some of the twisted popular depictions of Jesus circulating through this modern society… Jesus was hated as much as he was loved… he was killed for his radical life and message. When Jesus was rejected, he kept on presenting his truth without flinching under the pressure of popular opinion.

Be a Radical!

And we have to do the same! Whereas we should not act like arrogant fools and then claim we are being persecuted for Christ sake… we should also beware of fearing rejection and seeking acceptance soooo much that we are BLAND IN A TASTELESS world!

Matthew 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

Yes, we should continually adjust our CHARACTER… so that we are always becoming more and more like Jesus in every single way. When presenting truth, we have to do this fearlessly and without apology. Jesus NEVER adjusted his message down. Neither should we adjust our truth down for the sake of being accepted.

When presenting political truth, we have to maintain that balance between raising our voice AND honoring the authorities that exist. Re-read my past two blogs on political correctness:

Christians & Politics (January 27, 2009)
Americas Better Future (January 28, 2009)

Be Original!

The world doesn’t need… the world doesn’t want another MIDDLE GROUND person. In todays tasteless society, to be original is to be radical! When a person choses to be original, he STANDS OUT… and that for many people, is very uncomfortable. But we must push through the fear of rejection to SHINE LIKE STARS IN THIS UNIVERSE!