They hated Jesus first

As Christians, we follow a religion that's literally founded on martyrdom. Jesus preached an unpopular message, the culture killed Him. The apostles preached the same unpopular message, the culture killed most of them. For nearly 2,000 years, Christians have preached that same message and encountered various forms of persecution, up to and including death.

It is obvious from the Bible that Christians aren't supposed to be liked. As Jesus said, "“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you." (John 15:18-19). The world is very much opposed to God, and thus they are also opposed to those who follow Him. It stands to reason, therefore, that if unbelievers think you're strange, stupid, or evil, you're doing something right.

Not so in the minds of a liberal Christian! In their minds, if unbelievers think you're stupid for rejecting Evolution in favour of Genesis, you should reject Genesis in favour of Evolution. If unbelievers think you're closed minded for saying Jesus is the only way into Heaven, it makes sense to say other religions are equally valid. If unbelievers think you're bigoted for opposing gay "marriage", by all means accept gay "marriage"! Heck, Brian is wrong for putting the word "marriage" in air quotes.

This cowardly attitude is completely backwards. Sinful man has no authority over God's word. God has authority over sinful man. What God says, God means, and it is He who deserves our obedience (Acts 5:29). Christians have not endured centuries of martyrdom just so that 21st century Westerners can sit back and watch their fellow Christians do all the heavy lifting.

While you live, God has power over you. When you die, God will take all of your deeds into account and search your heart to see if you're really with Him. During your life, man may be able to destroy your body. They can verbally abuse you, financially pressure you, beat you to within an inch of your life, or even behead you, and that's not even the worst of it. But when you're dead, they can't touch you. It's between you and God at that point (Matthew 10:28; Luke 12:4). I ask, then, whose wrath should you really fear? You'll live on this earth 100 years if you're extremely lucky. After that, there's no end. 70 trillion years won't decrease eternity by a second. Will 70 trillion years in Hell be worth the money you earned from the job you only kept because you used your transgender boss's preferred pronouns? After 70 trillion years in Heaven, will you be salty about that time you got punched by a Muslim because you called Muhammad a false prophet? Is your probably 70-80 years on this earth really so unbearable that it cannot handle the scorn of men who think they're monkeys?

Face it: enmity with the world is a prerequisite of friendship with God (James 4:4). If you're a real Christian, you're going to be thought of in a negative light by all kinds of people. Even your unbelieving friends are going to think you're just a little bit weird. But I 100% guarantee you, it's worth it. Compromising God's word isn't.