I have a special challenge for my Christian readers. God has called us to boldly stand for what is right: “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). Doing that is not easy, because it often means being unpopular with others around us.

In a minute I’m going to explain how we can be bold (and still remain pleasant!) about God’s truth in the midst of a culture that is becoming more and more hostile to Jesus Christ and His followers. Before I do that, though, I want to share two encouraging stories from history in which Christians made significant differences in the culture of their day.

The first happened over a century ago when Honorius was Emperor of Rome. He ruled from 395 to 423. In those days, the great Coliseum of Rome was often filled with crowds who gathered to watch athletic contests. The most popular contests were either man against beast or two men against each other. Those fights weren’t over until one of them was killed. The crowds seemed to find the greatest thrill when a human being was slaughtered.

A Syrian monk by the name of Telemachus attended one of those contests in the Roman Coliseum about the year 400. He was so grieved by the gruesome spilling of human blood that he leaped into the arena in the midst of one of the gladiatorial shows and cried out, “This thing is not right! This thing must stop!” Historian John Fox, in his book Fox’s Book of Martyrs, records that Telemachus was quickly stabbed to death by a gladiator.

His death, though, was not in vain. His act of courage “turned the hearts of the people” (according to John Fox) so that the Emperor proclaimed Telemachus to be a martyr, and then declared an end to those horrific contests. What made the difference? One man dared to stand up and speak out for what he knew was right.

The other man lived more recently. You may have heard the story of William Wilberforce (1759-1833). He was an English politician and philanthropist. In 1785 he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, one year after being elected to Parliament. That event changed his life forever. He soon became the main leader in the movement to abolish slavery in the British empire. For 26 years he labored, against great opposition, to outlaw the slave trade. He was ridiculed and threatened, but he never gave up. It wasn’t until he was lying on his death-bed that the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was passed. (If you’d like to learn more about him, the movie “Amazing Grace” does a beautiful job of telling his story.)

History shows us that these two men had culture-changing faith. We, too, can have a faith that makes a difference in the world around us. In order to have a faith that has a powerful and positive influence on our community, there are two things that must happen.

First, God must give us the gift of faith. Strong faith is not rooted in our personal strength or our abilities. Real faith is a supernatural gift from God. That’s why Paul said it is, “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Until we let go of the faith we have in our own goodness or hard work and accept God’s gift of faith, we cannot receive the life-giving faith that God wants us to have.

Second, we must exercise the faith that God gives to us. Like lifting weights, we get strong by exercising what we have. When does that happen? We are exercising our faith when we are trusting that God will do what He says regardless of what our circumstances look like. Christians are told to, “Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock” (Isaiah 26:4).

Any time we give in to fear or worry, we are failing to exercise our faith. Any time we are more concerned about what other people think of us than about what God says, we are failing to exercise our faith. Any time we are afraid of the future or circumstances, we are failing to exercise our faith in what God has promised us. The more we exercise our faith in God and His promises, the stronger our faith will get.

Christians can look at uncertain circumstances with no fear because they, “know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Telemachus and Wilberforce both had profound and positive effects on the cultures of their day, and they did it in the face of great odds. Their faith was unshakeable. America needs Christians with that kind of faith.

Because I am a follower of Jesus Christ, I have given my life to stand up for Him and His Word no matter what. I invite you to make the same commitment. “In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” (Psalm 56:4).