Sermon Recap: Conviction + Compassion
Becoming a Redemptive Resistance - Week 4
On December 1st, 1955 — the day before my father was born — a quiet, dignified seamstress named Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery city bus after a long day’s work. Contrary to popular myth, she wasn’t sitting in the “white section,” but in the middle — open seating for anyone. Yet when the bus driver demanded she surrender her seat, she simply said no.
She didn’t shout. She didn’t resist violently. She remained calm, poised, and firm.
Her quiet courage sparked a movement that changed a nation.
It wasn’t just that Rosa Parks resisted — it was how she resisted. Her steady, gracious strength made her the right person for a defining moment in history.
That same spirit marked Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Babylon. They stood when everyone else bowed. They spoke truth without hostility. They trusted God even when the temperature was turned up.
Grace and Truth in the Age of Outrage
John 1:14 tells us that Jesus came “full of grace and truth.” Not half and half. Not a balance, but the fullness of both.
We, however, tend to swing like a seesaw — strong on truth but short on grace, or overflowing with grace but afraid to tell the truth. And in our outrage-driven culture, the pressure to pick a side is relentless.
Anger is the most profitable emotion. Algorithms bait us into rage-filled binaries of friend or foe. But outrage is not the way of Jesus — and neither is retreat.
If we’re honest, we’ve all had moments when we walked away from a hard conversation thinking:
“I was right… but I wasn’t loving.”
“I was kind… but I wasn’t honest.”
When Christians stand for truth without grace, people feel judged, not drawn.
When Christians preach grace without truth, people feel affirmed, but not transformed.
That’s why how we carry our convictions matters just as much as what we believe.
Courage Without Cruelty, Faith Without Fear
Nebuchadnezzar demanded worship — not loyalty. He built a 90-foot statue of himself and told the world to bow. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced an outrageous command but refused to become outrage-driven people.
They stood calm, clear, and courageous — trusting that God was still in charge of who was in charge.
“Our God can rescue us… but even if He does not, we will not bow.” (Daniel 3:17–18)
That’s not denial; it’s faith. They were rooted in a bigger story — one where obedience mattered more than outcome.
Jesus faced the same temptations. Standing before Pilate, the power-obsessed Roman governor, He said,
“My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
Both Jesus and the Hebrew boys show us that real authority doesn’t shout. It stands.
Faith in the sovereignty of God frees us from reacting to the chaos around us.
Conviction Without Contempt
Our world is full of polarizing issues — gender, immigration, justice, economics — all demanding our allegiance to one extreme or the other. But followers of Jesus are called to another way: Redemptive Resistance.
Conviction says, “God’s design is good.”
Compassion says, “And every person is made in His image.”
It’s possible to hold both. To stand in truth and demonstrate grace.
The Gospel Way
At the cross, grace and truth met perfectly.
Truth: Sin is so serious that it required the death of the Son of God.
Grace: Love is so deep that God willingly gave His Son for sinners.
The gospel frees us from outrage — because judgment has already fallen at the cross.
It frees us from compromise — because we’ve been bought with a price.
We can stand like the Hebrew boys, and we can love like Jesus — calm, courageous, compassionate —because the Son of God still walks with His people in the fire.
Reflection:
How does the cross of Christ — where truth and grace meet — reshape the way I engage with people who see the world differently?