It was obnoxious.  

I would sit in the crowd watching my college basketball team and I would start to heckle the other team.  I did this because I chose to be funny instead of kind (a choice I still regret today).  

One method of heckling that was particularly effective:  I would choose one player and every time he would get the ball, I would start the countdown…  10…  9…  pretty soon, the whole crowd would join me…  3…  2…  1…  The player knew time wasn’t running out, but would be so distracted that he would forget about the court for a bit and concentrate on something else.  That is the goal of the heckler.

Imagine, if you would, an entire crowd of people chanting something that they know is not true.

You see, the home crowd at a basketball game does not want the best team to win, it wants THE HOME TEAM to win.  The crowd does not stand up for the truth, it stands up for its own desire.

There are certain truths that I stand up for today:  God loves you.  Jesus is the only way to Heaven.  The Bible is true.  The Bible is truth.  Jesus lives.  They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.  I will always love my wife.  I will not recant my desire for Jesus…

And as I stand up for the truth of these things, I often find myself face to face with the crowd.  You do too.

So let me challenge the five people that follow this blog.  If you are standing up for something and the whole crowd yells that you are wrong, keep your eyes on the court.

I don’t act that way at basketball games anymore, but take it from someone that remembers how to sway a whole crowd to yell a lie, the popular vote is not always the correct vote.

Jesus, help me hold close to my heart the difference between “it is popular” and “it is truth.”