Braving the blistering heat of the sun, thousands of Christians gathered at the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Saturday to seek inspiration, guidance, courage and strength from a bevy of Christian speakers at a time when they needed them the most.
One of the speakers at the "Together 2016" event whose message resonated with the audience was popular pastor and New York Times bestselling author Francis Chan.
The 48-year-old author of "Crazy Love" told the crowd that the biggest challenge facing today's generation is that they are too focused on being popular in the eyes of the world, The Christian Post reports.
Instead of being obsessed with popularity, Christians who truly want to follow Jesus should seek the opposite – rejection, Chan said.
"In a generation that is obsessed with popularity and being liked and getting 'Likes,' Jesus says the way to become significant and to have an impact is through rejection," he said.
He then urged the crowd to stand together as "rejects" in the face of the world.
Chan also agreed with Nick Hall, the founder of the student-led PULSE evangelism movement, that the church needs a "reset."
"I think we all agree that the church needs a reset in a lot of ways," he said. "We have become somewhat irrelevant, sadly. But the path to relevance is not by trying to fit in. It's by standing out."
But "standing out" does not mean "becoming popular" since it is achieved by "becoming rejected," he said.
Chan also warned Christians to be wary when the world tells them that there are many ways to Heaven and that there will be no judgment. He said Christians must remember that the only way to Heaven is through Christ and He is "coming back to judge one day."
"So I want to be standing with Him, rejected with Him at the foot of the cross because I would rather be at the cross with Jesus than with the rest of the world," he said. "We have prayed together today and we have worshiped together today. The question is: Are we willing to be rejected together?"
