Faith is Not a Popularity Contest
When I was in high school, being popular was very important to me, which is strange because I wasn’t all that popular. As I grew older, my quest for popularity gave way to simply being accepted by others. I guess in many ways I felt that I didn’t measure up to others; that I wasn’t as good as my classmates or co-workers.
When it comes to our faith, however, it doesn’t matter to God if you are popular or where you stack up against others. The one who created us doesn’t have ratings. He loves all people, and as we know from Scripture, it’s “the least among us” that are particularly near and dear to him.
In the Gospel of John (6:39), Jesus states, “this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” Later in that Gospel (18:9), he affirms that, in fact, he did not lose a single one of those whom he was given. In John 10:14-15, Jesus proclaims, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father —and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
So when it comes to faith, popularity is not an issue, only loyalty, honor, and reverence. It is our Lord’s mission and passion that all people will be redeemed and ascend to the Father’s Kingdom on the Day of Judgment. Any notion of popularity will be a non-factor.