American culture is historically known as a melting pot full of diverse ethnic and religious factions. As Christians, we believe in absolute truth, and the societal shift for tolerance often contradicts our values. We face a growing moral crisis: compromise or be convicted. But this is not a new trend. Luther, Copernicus, Galileo, Da Vinci, Solzhenitsyn, and John the Baptist were just a few of the numerous historical rebels, labeled as heretics. They challenged the established schools of thought for what they knew to be the truth.

Speaking of revolutionary leaders, no one in history turned the world completely upside down like Jesus did over 2,000 years ago. He was a nonconformist like no other. Today, faith in Christ seems to make people uncomfortable. It's a topic we shy away from afraid to be labeled as "Bigots" or "Holy Rollers." We have adopted a "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy. However, if we Christians are head over heels in love Christ, then should not our lives reflect that in a way that drastically impacts our culture? With the social problems our generation faces, faith and conviction may just bring healing and transformation to our families and our society.

French philosopher, Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote, "America is great because America is good. When America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Our generation nicknamed the "I" generation faces several substantial problems; We are desensitized to violence and sex. According to parentstv.org, on average, each individual witnesses 10,000 acts of violence and hears 15,000 sexual references in a single year between television and movies. It's not just on television that violence seeps into our lives, Virginia Tech, Columbine, Sandy Hook and Aurora Movie theater, as well as heinous crimes committed by Casey Anthony, Scott Peterson, and George Zimmerman have become major headlines so frequent though that cynicism and indifference are reactions to these tragic events.

This generation is also a spectator to the breakdown of their families; 30 million will be raised by one biological parent and a step-parent, 12 million in single parent homes a 30 percent increase from the 90's and 2.5 million by grandparents. 50 percent of the 2,077,000 annual marriages, as well as existing marriages, will end in divorce, both secular and Christian. So our generation has problems, doesn't every generation?

By being silent on the issues and not taking a compassionate but corrective stand, we are telling the world that our lives with Jesus are not any different than their lives without Him. By being overly tolerant, we can become apathetic and indifferent. At the opposite end of the spectrum, we can get caught up in legalism and being right, that we perpetuate the stereotype of hatred. We need to disagree with the world and love them while they are yet sinners.

So how do we profess to be Christians and coexist peaceably with our non-believing neighbors? We take a stand by living what we believe. It's not enough to pay lip service to Christianity. When the stakes are high, we need to be living it. Words are meaningless without actions. I'm not saying that we need to round up every atheist and skeptic we can find and hit them over the head with a Bible. As an evangelistic technique, that is actually the opposite of what we are called to do.

Rather, we need to live our lives in such a way that people notice the difference in us. When you go about your daily life, live in a way that people will question. A practical way to do that is to get rid of the "porneia" in our lives. Porneia translated from the Greek in as what Ephesians 5:3-4 refers to sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking. These are artificial stimulants in our lives that lead to reckless behavior and self-destruction wrecking our relationships with God and others.

We need to turn off the "cruise mode" and intentionally seek God in a world that is living for itself. This may be unpopular, but individuals who were able to make significant impacts in the world most often would not have won any popularity contests. The Chinese Christians being persecuted by the Communist regime had this message to American churches: "We are praying for you to be persecuted; you have become weak."

It may seem a bit harsh, but what they are implying is you are on the fence trying to please both man and God. You need to be forced to make a choice between the two because no servant can serve two masters. God doesn't want some of our time, a little of our money when we can spare it. He wants and deserves everything we have to give because of who He is and all that He has given, even the life of his only begotten Son.

So conviction is important as a Christian, but can we maintain this clarity and still be tolerant of other religions? History would say yes; The Greco-Roman empire was one of the most tolerant in their religious beliefs. Everyone had his or her own deity, however, their practices were notoriously harsh. They despised the poor, forced marriages, gave low status to women, had high rates of infanticide and lacked economic equality. Comparably the Judeo-Christian culture was monotheistic and accepted mixed races and classes in ways that seemed offensive to the Romans. They gave magnanimously to the destitute, even of other faiths and women enjoyed a higher equality and security than in the surrounding culture. When the terrible plagues broke out, these early Christians extended care for the sick and dying even at the expense of their own lives. Today, as Christians, we need to have convictions, but also to be able to "hate the sin and love the sinner."

The crux of Christianity is to love God and love others. In fact, nothing we do in life matters unless it is in response to loving God and loving the people around us. Jesus said in the Gospels that 'all of the Law and the prophets' hung on the love of God and others. At the heart of who we are, we are hard-wired for love, not Eros love or romantic love, but Agape or God's love and Philos love, brotherly love or community love. This love is not out of self-interest, but reflects the values of 1st Corinthians 13: "bearing all things, believing all things, hoping all things and enduring all things."

Paul even goes as far to say that without love, we are nothing. Our talents, abilities, and gifts profit us nothing without love. We need to reach out to the lost, not to condemn them, but to reflect the love of Jesus. We need to become the people that know the clear difference between right and wrong and consistently choose right, but also recognize the need to pass on the same compassion and grace, we were extended. We also need to keep in mind that we cannot save anyone. We are not Jesus; we died on no cross, for not a single person. At the end of the day, our logic and arguments pale in comparison to the transformation of the Spirit.

Tolerance is a hot topic in the press today often portraying those who do not condone actions they feel morally wrong as "Bigots”, “Self-Righteous" or "Bible Thumpers." Without a place for conviction in our society and in our schools, we lack the moral "compass" to make ethical decisions as a society. As Christians, our goal is to be set apart but not in a way that alienates people. Being a Christian in many ways is like being married. It's easy when everything is good to say "I do," but it's the trials and test where we have to say "I will." Conviction is risking security, comfort and reputation to make a difference, and to transform our families and our culture.

We need concrete faith that there is meaning and purpose to our lives. More than that, we need the radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love of Christ burning inside of us that cannot be contained. The love of Christ is really the only thing we can offer anyone. We may risk being labeled as “Jesus Freaks," but such risk is worth reaching out to the broken, the hungry, and the lost to offer the hope of Christ.