I have sat in the House of Representatives and watched, when a bill came up for vote, as legislators walked off the floor rather than vote yes or no. Taking a stand is rarely easy. You have to identify yourself with a particular stance, there is no waffling. And you will probably offend or upset someone who doesn’t agree with you. But this country needs people who will have a little backbone. People who will take a stand for something—anything!—instead of just sitting in their easy chairs, or slipping out of the legislative chamber without saying “aye” or “nay.”
Usually there is someone else who will stand when you do. But other times, you have to stand alone—completely alone. I have a friend who joined the military at 19 years of age. He called me the first day he had leave to use a pay phone. He told me how for weeks on end, his fellow soldiers had been talking about going to a strip club the first day they had leave. They really wanted my friend to go, but he said, “No.” They told him, “You don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you’ve gotta come.” He said, “No.” They said, “Your mom won’t find out.” He said, “That doesn’t matter. I don’t want to go!”
Joshua Harris once said, “This country will not survive another generation of Christians who fit in.” We will not learn to stand alone by following the crowd; we will learn to stand alone by saying no.
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