In a nation reeling from senseless violence, where fear casts a long shadow, the words of a pastor and the president of Family Research Council, resonate with piercing clarity: “It is the word of God with which we find direction and hope in times of uncertainty.”

America, FRC President Tony Perkins declared, has a “heart problem” — one that could only be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. In an age of chaos, the call to discipleship is not a gentle suggestion but a radical demand, requiring that Christians confront opposition, deny themselves, and stay the course, no matter the cost.

Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” As Perkins went on to explain, we live in a culture obsessed with self-gratification. Discipleship, he reminded Christians, is costly. Jesus Himself had warned of the trials to come, preparing His followers for a world that would reject them as it rejected Him. “There is a cost to discipleship,” Perkins echoed, “but the Lord is challenging us. … No turning back.”

Opposition to the Gospel

The New Testament puts a spotlight on our world and its hostility toward Jesus’s message. Our world, marked by “great opposition, demonic activity, the religious crowd, the governmental crowd,” Perkins noted, arrayed against Jesus then, and it does so now.

Today, Perkins warned, we’re living in the same climate of hostility, which the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk this past week underscores — a reality faced by those who stand unashamedly for Christ. Yet, Perkins’s charge was resolute. When we face persecution, be it slander, harassment, or even violence, “We cannot pack up. We cannot leave. We cannot turn back from following Jesus Christ.”

To navigate these turbulent times, however, we must anchor ourselves in the word of God. This alone provides not just solace but a blueprint for living in defiance of a world that demands our surrender.

The Cost of True Discipleship

In a culture that cancels, marginalizes, and even martyrs those who follow Christ, Perkins cuts through the noise. “I’m not concerned about the cancel culture,” he stated. “They can’t bother me because I’m crucified with Christ.” And yet, this does not negate the fact that our lives, as believers, will be marked with the cost of true discipleship. Jesus Himself didn’t sugarcoat this reality: “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Luke 9:22).

To die with Christ is to be liberated from the world’s threats, to rise with Him unashamed and unafraid. This, however, demands a clear understanding of who Jesus is — not merely a teacher or inspirational figure, but “the Christ of God, the Messiah, the Savior.” Perkins noted that many of Jesus’s disciples sought a political messiah to overthrow Roman rule, but Jesus redirected them to the eternal, spiritual reality of God’s kingdom. “I’m going to be killed. I’m going to be rejected, and I’m going to be killed,” Jesus, in effect, declared, before issuing the piercing challenge: “Who wants to go with me?”

“That was the context in which the call to be a disciple came,” Perkins said. But that’s not the end-all-be-all. Christ also said that “whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost?” The reality, Perkins stressed, is simple: “True discipleship is a costly path that often conflicts with what the world prioritizes. But the crown of life and the consequences of following Jesus far exceed anything the world has to offer.”

So, Perkins asked, “Who is Jesus to you?” Your answer determines whether you’ll stand firm or turn back. Jesus’s call to lose your life to find it (Luke 9:24-25) inverts the world’s logic. While society screams to put yourself first, Jesus commands, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” The world promises fleeting gain; Christ offers eternal life. But we must deny ourselves to follow Christ, and as Perkins emphasized, “it’s a daily surrender.”

Jesus Himself epitomizes this in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Jesus was both human and divine,” Perkins said. “He felt rejection. He felt hurt. He felt pain. In fact, the Scripture says that in every form that we face, every emotion, every feeling, Christ, likewise … knows what you and I face as human beings.” Hours before His crucifixion, He prayed, “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

That, Perkins asserted, is “denying ourselves.” We don’t go “to God with a … spiritual bucket list.” No, we’re called to pray, “Not my will, but Your will.” It sounds easy, Perkins noted, but “surrendering your passions [and] your desires to the plans and the purposes of the Father” is not easy in practice.

No Turning Back

In a fractured world, the hymn’s refrain rings true: “The cross before you. The world behind you. No turning back.” The cost of discipleship is steep — opposition, rejection, even persecution — but the rewards are matchless. Jesus was upfront about the price, never hiding it in fine print. To follow Him is to embrace a path that clashes with the world’s priorities, yet it leads to a crown of life that far outweighs anything this world can offer.

As violence and division threaten to drown out hope, Perkins’s words stand as a battle cry: we cannot turn back. Anchored in the word, transformed by the gospel, and sustained by the Savior, we are called to stand firm, deny ourselves, and follow Christ — no matter the cost. In a world that demands our retreat, we echo the resolve of the faithful: No turning back.