Welcome to day 28 of STAND OUT: 7 traits of a counter cultural life! You can find every post in this series indexed here.

President Snow: Seneca… why do you think we have a winner?
Seneca Crane: [frowns] What do you mean?
President Snow: I mean, why do we have a winner? I mean, if we just wanted to intimidate the districts, why not round up twenty-four of them at random and execute them all at once? Be a lot faster.
[Seneca just stares, confused]
President Snow: Hope.
Seneca Crane: Hope?
President Snow: Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous.

This conversation from The Hunger Games contains some rich truth. Read again that last line.

Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous.

Hope is powerful, y’all. And unlike the hope provided by the idea of winner in The Hunger Games, the hope we have in Christ is a lasting hope.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil. Hebrews 6:19 NASB

So what is this hope, this anchor for our souls? Our hope is the person and saving work of Christ, imaged here as our High Priest. Christ Himself is the anchor … He provides the stability in the storms of our lives.

Why is this counter cultural? What makes hope stand out in our world? So few people have it!

In this culture that idolizes power and position, money and might, hope often gets lost in the shuffle. Jesus said we are to be the light of the world and y’all, I can’t think of anything that shines brighter against the backdrop of hopelessness than the hope we have in Christ! One of the most radical things we can do in our cynical culture is be hopeful.

One of the most radical things we can do in our culture is be hopeful. #StandOut Click To Tweet

What do you say, girls, wanna be radical with our hope?

xo,

Teri Lynne