What Happens To Your Popularity As You Get To Know Christ Better

One of the harder things about being on a path of transformation as a follower of Christ is that the greater the revelation you receive, the more you will be in the minority.  If you think about the number of people that achieve different levels of education – less people get bachelors degrees than high school diplomas, and less people get masters degrees than bachelors degrees. 

Now, I’m not saying you gain more credentials or notoriety as you uncover more of the riches of Christ like you do when you advance through levels of academia.  In fact, if you’re truly advancing in the Kingdom, it’s going to be the opposite.  You can kiss popularity (relatively speaking) goodbye.  You’ll find yourself being a part of a smaller, but more close-knit group of people. 

That’s not to say the Lord couldn’t affect many people’s lives through you and what you do.  It’s just to say that those you’ll experience true connection, friendship and Kingdom life together tend to dwindle as you advance in the Kingdom.

Many will love you, but most will think you weird on some level.  Being an apostle in the early church was essentially a death sentence.

What I’m pointing out here is that you shouldn’t be surprised when you find yourself in the minority. 

Backward, inside-out and turned around

The more revelation you receive about the Kingdom, the more upside-down you’re going to seem to most of the people you’ll come into contact with.  As you move along, the higher percentage of people are going to label you as backward, inside-out and turned around. 

Yes, that will include some Christian brothers and sisters as well (not ALL, or you likely DO have a problem).  You’ll be misunderstood, judged as crazy, and annoy people with your radical commitment and convictions.  I’ve been accused of being involved in a cult more than once. You’ll likely even wonder to yourself if you truly are crazy at times. 

But remember this – you have the support of the entire biblical story behind you.  When you think about the characters, how many of them were like most people and did things most people would do?  Weren’t they “nuts” according to most people?

What percentage of people were going to believe God like Abraham when he was told all nations would be blessed through his offspring?  Out of all the people Jesus encountered and shared His message about the Kingdom, what percentage ended up following Him?  What percentage of people would be like Paul and be content sitting in a Roman prison because it was leading to people hearing about Jesus?

Check yourself

Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s good to be in the minority (or by yourself) all the time on everything.  You still always want to be suspicious of yourself.  You still want to practice discerning if you’re in the minority because you’re falling in line with God’s perspective. 

If you’ve checked yourself with various sources like Scripture, mentors, books and other people in your life, it’s time to be encouraged.

You’re in good company

Speaking of Scripture…if you’re someone that believes God’s Spirit worked through the authors to help reveal God’s character and deliver God’s perspective, then you should know that all of those authors were in the minority among their people as well. 

They were prophets who worked to deliver encouragement or warnings to their people.  They were misunderstood, judged as crazy, and annoyed people with their radical commitment and convictions.

It’s hard not to get discouraged at times when you feel in the minority.  But be encouraged.  You are participating in the same journey as Christ.