Do you remember the first time you decided to be vocal about your political or biblical beliefs? I can’t help but wonder how it went. For me, speaking my mind on something important, but having a different opinion than the majority of those around me, resulted in a mixed bag of anger, frustration, hostility, and many people who decided they can “no longer associate” with someone like me.

Some of the beliefs that have triggered these sentiments are as follows: Life begins at conception. Abortion is murder. There are only two genders, and we don’t get to pick between the two. Marriage was designed to be between one man and one woman. Children deserve two parents — a mom and a dad — who are there for them. There’s only one true God. There’s only one way to God, and it’s through Jesus Christ. And because of this sovereign Lord, we don’t get to live however we want, nor do we decide what’s good and evil. Rather, the word of God, being inerrant and infallible, is the source of all that is good, true, and beautiful. I’m not ashamed to hold fast to any of this.

And yet, the second these beliefs go public (especially in a world that’s chronically online), the reactions come pouring in. “I’m disappointed,” someone once said. “I thought you were a Christian,” others bemoan. “This is so anti-Christian and anti-American. I expected better.” Countless people have walked away because they refused to be friends with someone who holds to these beliefs. I’ve taken slander for the sake of Christ. All this to say, disagreements can be blinding and destructive. And there are a lot of Christians who, understandably, choose to avoid making their values known for fear of how they will be treated.

Something the author Paul David Tripp articulates well in his book, “War of Words,” is the idea of having a “second-half of the Great Commission” mentality. He wrote, “I believe that the church has been weakened by its tendency to neglect the second-half of this Commission. Jesus calls us not only to go and make disciples, but also to teach them what it means to live lives that are obedient to every command of Christ.”

Tripp went on to explain how this “is a call to exhort, encourage, and teach so that we would be progressively freed from old patterns of sin and conformed instead to the image of Christ. The Great Commission is not only a call to bring people into the Kingdom of light, but also a call to teach them to live as children of light once they are there. When we lose sight of this second-half of the Great Commission … we lose sight of its claim on our everyday” lives.

So, what is he getting at? He’s pointing out the fact that Christians are hurt by a failure to live out the entirety of the call Jesus gives us in Matthew 28. We’re not just supposed to share the gospel, but to make sure people understand it and that they are equipped to live it out. We’re supposed to be living it out. As Tripp emphasized, “this Commission,” when kept in full, “keeps us from divorcing ministry from our normal everyday lives.” Because really, our lives were never meant to be divorced from our ministry — pursuit of righteousness and our evangelism go hand in hand. And to do this rightly, we must first understand our redemption.

Redemption, according to Google, is “the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.” It is “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.” In some cases, it’s defined as “the action of buying one’s freedom.” There are many ways the term redemption has been used. But in Christianity, we understand that redemption is the action of being saved from our sin through the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, which served as the payment that cleared our debt as sinners toward a holy God. Redemption, for the Christian, is the freedom we have in Christ. But it was not free, for it cost Christ His life.

“He was pierced for our transgressions,” Isaiah 53:5 states. “He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed.” The Bible is full of these beautiful depictions of the reality of our redemption. We are free because Christ, through His death, burial, and resurrection, restored what was lost in the fall! And so, with all this in mind, we understand what redemption is and can now rightly live out our faith.

With that in mind, Tripp went on to write of how the Christian should have a redemptive posture. It is this idea that will help us as we navigate the realm of sharing our faith boldly and lovingly. Tripp discussed how at the heart of our problems is, in fact, a problem of the heart. And so, if we want our entire lives to be geared to the glory of God, Tripp argues we must coat our entire perspective with a redemptive lens. But what exactly does this mean? Moreover, what does it look like?

This redemptive perspective means we view relationships, jobs, speech, and all areas of life redemptively. This is especially important because of how inclined we are “to rehearse the sins of others rather than to examine our own hearts,” Tripp argued. “When we give in to these tendencies, we become part of the problem rather than instruments of change.” And yet, we are called to be “tools in the hands of the true Owner who is busy in the work of restoration.”

So, what is the Christian response to recent events? We should celebrate this election outcome, because I disagree with the idea that we defeated one evil and are moving onto the next. No, we were graciously given an opportunity to live the next four years under a president who vowed to protect our First Amendment rights. We have a chance, perhaps more so than before, to make even more progress in the pro-life movement. The opportunities to free classrooms from LGBT ideology are far more abundant. In these four years to come, by God’s grace, Christians will finally be able to heed the call of the Great Commission with far less interference.

If you haven’t been bold up to this point, what better time than the present? What better opportunity than now to start living out life with a “second half of the Commission” mindset and a redemptive posture to those around us? We move forward with boldness, and Christians need to understand how crucial it is to be the one who speaks the truth in love. We’re called to extend a loving hand to our enemies. We need to bring back healthy dialogue with our neighbors, and Christians should be leading the charge! We were never meant to be silent or sit back in the face of adversity. Under a hostile government, we can understand the need to stand firm. But this need, by no means, goes away under more accommodating leadership.

Maybe the Lord spared Donald Trump’s life for a reason. Perhaps God knew that the church needed a president who was going to help Christians live out their faith more freely. It’s reasonable to assume that our Savior has you and me here for such a time as this. A time to be bold and to share the truth. A time to take advantage of this opportunity we’ve been given to pursue actual conversations with people who have been deceived by this fallen world. As Tripp urged, maybe we’re here in this moment so that we can “support one another as we journey through this fallen world.” May we spur each other on as we embrace a “burden-bearing” mentality.

Tripp concluded:

“When we see people struggling with weakness, we point them to the strength available in Christ. When someone is ignorant, we speak with wisdom-giving words of truth. When someone is fearful, we talk of God, who is an ever-present help in trouble. When people grieve, we seek to comfort. When they are discouraged, we seek to bring words of hope. When they feel alone, we remind them of our love and Christ’s presence. When they are angry, we point them to a God of righteousness, vengeance, and justice. In the midst of conflict, we seek to speak as peacemakers and reconcilers. When people are anxious, we point them to the Sabbath rest Christ has given his children.”

May Christians be defined by these terms, especially as we seek change during this next administration.