Living Close to Jesus in a World that Pushes Back

Have you ever felt that being a Christian feels different? Maybe your beliefs don’t quite fit those of the crowd, your convictions feel unpopular, or maybe you have just always struggled to blend in?

In Matthew Chapter 5 Jesus speaks about what it means to live in this world as salt and light– to bring flavour and brightness to a world that’s bland and dark. We’re called to live differently, to bring change and to spread the hope of Jesus. 

But that can sometimes feel super daunting and even isolating. Especially when we live in a world that’s shifting so rapidly, where being ‘Christian’ can feel outdated or even offensive. You may have felt that tension at school, work, or in your social circles.

And for some of us, we’ve never felt that tension before. 

If faith never collides with culture, it could be because we’ve stopped letting God shape us deeply enough to stand out. It’s easy to settle into a comfortable kind of Christianity- one that doesn’t allow Jesus to transform our habits, our words, our priorities.

So what do we do he tension of our faith intersecting with culture? Romans 12:12 begins by saying; ‘do not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ ‘Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.’

As our minds are renewed, we learn to discern God’s heart. We start recognising His voice, sensing His direction and understanding what is truly good — even when it goes against the grain of the culture around us.

When we live this way, letting God shape our thoughts, desires and choices, our lives naturally begin to stand out. Not because we’re trying to make a scene and stir up controversy, but because the life of Jesus within us creates a quiet, compelling contrast to the world around us. 

That tension, or difference isn’t new and we’re not the first to face that tension.

The early Christians faced this same challenge. The Roman Empire didn’t care what you believed as long as you said, ‘Caeser is Lord,’ you could worship any god alongside that. The Christians however, refused to say ‘Caeser is Lord’ and that decision brought tremendous persecution and resistance at that time.

Peter, who would one day be executed and crucified upside down as a result of his faith, wrote this to the Early Church about how to live out this kind of controversial faith in deeply resistant times.

In 1 Peter 3:15–16, he says:

‘But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.’

Imagine the early Christians hearing this, realising that what they believe has not just a solution but a cultural posture of how to live this out in the world. 

We can learn and apply three things from this: 

1. The need to deal with controversial faith.
2. How to live a controversial faith.
3. What happens when we live a controversial faith well.

Everything Peter writes; each instruction about standing firm, living differently and responding with hope, all of it flows out of one place: a heart centred in Jesus.

Recognise the tension: the need to deal with controversial faith

We need to face the controversy of faith because we live in a time of radical cultural decline.

Anyone who holds to total truth claims will face a level of resistance and scripture affirms this. 

Some of us will lose the people close to us or face mockery and exclusion — simply because our narrative doesn’t fit the accepted cultural narratives of our world today. And that will naturally cause confusion and disruption. Are you willing to follow Jesus, even when it costs you something?

What we believe matters – not just in theory, but in how we live it out.  That’s why faith cannot stay a private matter.

Live with integrity and gentleness: how to live with controversial faith 

We have to make Jesus the Lord of our hearts.

Everybody has an ordering principle of the heart. We each have something we cherish and find valuable which we are consciously or subconsciously ordering in our hearts – money, career, social status, how we spend our free time.

Peter says to give that centre spot to Christ.

When you do, something remarkable happens- your heart becomes reorganised. Your inner struggles and priorities begin to take shape around Him. 

It’s the kind of hope you see in everyday life: maintaining peace under pressure, showing integrity even under scrutiny and keeping faith when others would compromise.

When people see it, they’ll ask about it. That’s why Scripture says, ‘be ready to give an answer.’

Be ready to give an intelligent, thoughtful and cohesive response. Gone are the days where we can just say, ‘I grew up Christian and have just kind of stuck with it.’ No- we’re called to articulate our faith clearly, with gentleness and respect because we’re talking to people about the deepest parts of their lives; how they get their sense of self, how they understand their dignity, how they wrestle with shame and how they are handling the reality of sin in their life.

Watch life become your witness: what happens when we live it well

When we live out our faith set apart it doesn’t go unnoticed. The world starts to see beauty where it expected hostility. People who came to argue end up disarmed by peace and compassion. That kind of life silences the slander. It exposes false accusations and brings conviction — not through argument, but through the compelling hope of your life. 

Throughout history, when the church has loved its enemies, served the poor, forgiven the undeserving and stood firm in truth with grace, that’s when the gospel has advanced the most. Not through comfort or dominance, but through infectious faith.

The private room: intimacy with Jesus

But that kind of life doesn’t start in public. It starts in private, in the unseen places where we pursue God with our hearts and minds. All of this, recognising the tension, living with integrity and gentleness and letting your life speak, begins with intimacy with Jesus, the foundation of a life that points others to Him.

One of the women that we see throughout the gospels is Mary of Bethany. She’s mentioned 3 times in the Bible and each time she is mentioned, she’s at the feet of Jesus in a posture of worship. 

Once, when Jesus visited her home. Next, when she wept and asked Him to save Lazarus. The third time is before Passover, Mary pours a pound of expensive nard (a kind of very fragrant perfume) over Jesus’ feet with her hair. They say that the smell of nard was so strong that it would have lingered for a few days. 

Meaning Jesus likely carried it to His trial and crucifixion. And Mary carried it too. So, we have this imagery of when you draw near to Jesus, His presence gets on you. You carry His scent wherever you go. And when the world pushes back, that closeness will show- not because you’re trying to stand out, but because you’ve been with Him.

I recently did a subject at a Bible college where we looked at the Old Testament Prophets and Writings and we spent a bit of time looking into the Ark of Covenant. The Ark was the visible symbol of God’s presence among His people. Placed in the Holy of Holies, it was the space where heaven met earth, where the God could be encountered and only the High Priest could enter.   

At first read there’s this very unassuming story of a man named Obed-Edom in 2 Samuel 6. When King David first brought the Ark of the Covenant toward Jerusalem, while they were travelling, the oxen carrying the ark stumbled so a man named Uzzah reached out to hold it up and God put him to death there and then. Quite an intense story. King David heard about this and was afraid, so he wanted the Ark to be left in Obed-Edom’s house. The scripture says (v11) ‘The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.’

Then King David heard that Obed-Edom and his whole family were being blessed from having the Ark in his home, so he wanted to bring it back to Jerusalem. Later, when the Ark was moved to Jerusalem, Obed-Edom followed. We jump to 1 Chronicles 16 and we read that Obed-Edom becomes a gatekeeper of the temple. Not for honour or status, but to stay near and chase the presence of God that had transformed his life. Obed-Edom didn’t just receive a blessing and stay passive, once he had a taste of the blessing of the Holy Spirit, he couldn’t let it go. 

Both these stories point to the same truth: to live a life that stands out, you must first live close to Jesus.

When you do, His presence, His love and His character rub off on you. He will shape your words, your priorities, your joy and your courage. And yes, God tells us that this will create tension with the world. Because a life marked by the presence of God cannot blend in.

That’s what controversial faith truly is: not arguing louder or trying to provoke but living so close to Jesus that the world notices something different.

So, the question is:
What kind of story will your life tell? When the world looks at you and the way you respond to the challenges of life, will they see fear, or will they see hope?

Will they see someone trying to fit in, or someone living for a greater kingdom?

Living a faithful, set-apart life isn’t about being loud or combative. It’s about living differently, with peace, joy and hope that people can’t help but notice.

So, pursue Him deeply. Let His presence transform your heart, your thoughts and the way you live. Let the hope of your faith start to shift the world around you.

Because controversial faith doesn’t begin in public, it begins in private. It begins at His feet.