Truth Is Unpopular

"You don't measure the value of truth by it's popularity."
~ Dr. Randy Smith at Central Church of God 7/6/08

Early in the gospels, and at the start of His ministry Jesus was incredibly popular. Everywhere He went crowds gathered as an air of excitement enveloped the land. But it didn't last.
The more they heard Him speak, and the more He revealed the Kingdom agenda, the less popular He became. The crowds dwindled and some became antagonistic.

Jesus continually sank in the popular opinion polls of His day. That's completely opposite of what we look for, and indeed hope for, today. We want to gain in popularity. Build momentum. That's how we define success. We want more and more people to follow our ministry and message.
But if we follow the example of Jesus, we can't justify that.