by Eric Ludy

Christianity is simply not cool.  It’s not hip, it’s not en vogue, and it’s definitely not one of those things you claim if you desire fame and popularity to come knocking. 

Many in our modern day refuse to accept this inherent foolishness in the Christian package.  They attempt to make it something it just isn’t, and in the process create even a cheesier product

That said, there is a segment of the Christian life that carries with it a hue of respectability and social grace.  It may not be cool, but at least it’s not inherently foolish.  For example, kindness.  Kindness for the most part is a universally celebrated character trait that both the secularist and Christian applaud. Integrity is another one. Courage, generosity, hospitality, and diligence could also be thrown into this hopper of thought. 

In other words, there are certain aspects of a healthy Christian life that pose no threat to the surrounding world system.  They are not foolish, cheesy, repulsive, or seemingly inane.   In fact, these certain attributes might actually be commended for their humanistic and humanitarian flavoring.  But, whereas some traits might not be foul and offensive, there are others in the fully-orbed Christian life that have a very different effect on this world, and thusly remove every ounce of coolness from the equation. 

Take for instance, purity.  Or how about holiness, or preaching, or evangelizing the lost with our “there’s only one way to the Father” message? 

These oft-criticized attributes of the healthy Christian existence beg the question, “What was God thinking?”  But this question only emits from our lips when we don’t understand God’s purpose in constructing His saints to look just like Him.  

This might be a shocker, but God doesn’t intend the Christian life to gain the admiration of the world.  God doesn’t build us into a picture of His Majesty simply to receive the applause of the masses.  He doesn’t mold us with the expectation that this world will swoon before our beauty and grace.  Actually, God builds the human life into a picture of His honor, truth, and life, in order to expose the selfishness, the sinfulness, and the profane motivation of all that has not yet been reborn and remade in Him. 

He builds us as a contrast.

God builds us for crosses.  

A healthy Christian life, shaped after the pattern of Christ in Scripture, is an affront, an indictment, a call to repentance.  And even if this “healthy Christian” were to never even open his mouth to audibly speak the message of Christ’s honor, truth, and life – still the mighty message of the Cross is continually proclaimed through his every action – it should emanate from his skin, his smile, and his attitude.

In some ways, at the subconscious level, I’ve attempted to avoid this all-too-clearly-evidenced truth of Scripture, that all who live godly lives in Christ Jesus WILL be persecuted.  Note that it’s not “may be persecuted.” Not “will be thought kind of funny.” It’s “WILL be persecuted.”   Gulp.  

I lived a good portion of my Christian life listening to God as if His words were suggestions.  I always thought them good, wise suggestions, however, they were still just suggestions – notions that I weighed in the balance of my own selfish interest and often found wanting. 

And for years, I treated this whole “persecution” thing as a suggestion.  It’s as if God were saying, “Eric, here’s a couple options.  You can live a comfortable life, full of yourself, your ego, your wants, and preserving your pleasures, or you could live a persecuted life, full of Me, my sufferings, my agenda, and seeking my pleasure alone.  Which one would you prefer?”

If the true Christian life, as prescribed in Scripture, is merely a suggestion, then no one in their right mind would ever choose it.  Who would rather die when she might live?  Who would rather forsake everything when he might keep it instead?  Who would choose to be hated and despised, when she might otherwise be popular and esteemed? 

God knows that we would choose wrongly, if left up to our own decision-making processes.  And that is why He doesn’t suggest – He commands and then He enables.  He knows that there is only one way to be rescued and that is for us to agree with Him and come into alignment with His way of doing things, and then allow ourselves to be equipped by His very Presence dwelling within us. 

The true Christian life, whether we like it or not, is intended to be an offense to this world.  It’s a bad smell in the room.  It’s that one thing that everyone, in one voice, wants removed from the premises.  For its presence causes a sting of conviction, or worse, a forewarning of condemnation.  The true Christian life shines as a light into the darkness and, as a simple note of fact, the darkness prefers it dark. 

These past twenty or so years, God’s been taking me through, what I call The School of the Prophet.  It’s like boot camp for the soul.  It’s not learning how to handle guns and hand grenades, no, it’s learning how to handle rejection, slander, betrayal, and cold shoulders.  It’s learning how to go as a sheep to the slaughter, hang on crosses and forgive those that seek my destruction.  It’s learning how to stand firm even if everyone else around me sits soft.  It’s learning to follow God’s lead, even when it’s to the death of my reputation or to the loss of all I hold dear.

Oh, I still have a long way to go, but God has seriously altered the person of Eric Ludy over the past twenty years.  From people pleaser to Gospel proclaimer – I’ve been transformed.

Probably one of the number one things I’ve had to learn in this “school,” is that God isn’t suggesting me to follow Him down the narrow Way.  He’s saying, “Eric, this is the way, walk ye in it!  Don’t turn to the right or to the left!  Make sure that cross is on your shoulder and that you are completely dead, and then walk!”  He’s commanding me to follow – for my own good!

Such a school may not sound very appealing to you.  And yet from personal experience I can honestly say that I have found the vestibule of heaven in choosing to walk this narrow way.  I have found that the greater the degree I yield in givenness to God, the greater the liberty of soul I have found – it’s a constant journey into greater depths of His love and grace. I have real joy, real peace, and real confidence for real-world living. 

I ask you to consider signing up for The School of the Prophet.  Please join me in this extraordinary boot camp. You don’t need a wad of cash to enter, in fact, you need nothing.  Nothing, that is, but a broken and contrite spirit yielded wholly to God. 

So, dear Christians, lift your goblets of vinegar into the air, for I have a toast to make. 

Here’s to being ridiculed, slandered, mocked, abused, and crucified with big smiles on our faces, love in our hearts, and forgiveness ever on our lips!

Visit Eric’s personal blog and podcast at ericludy.com