I am here to tell you that although in life we usually don’t get to choose which battles we will fight, we always get to choose whether we will fight them or not. What our world needs right now, more than anything, is more foot soldiers for hope.

The saddest part about despair is that just like grief, despair is a social and spiritual taboo. Christians learn that despair is the greatest of sins, and many characterize it as the cryptic unforgivable “eternal sin” Jesus speaks of in the Bible (Mark 3:29). So for most of my life, I kept my own despair a secret. But the truth is that feelings of despair are not sinful, they’re just honest.

Jesus felt them too.

The other truth is that despair is like grief: it is everywhere, but nobody wants to talk about it. To live outside the law and overcome despair, honesty is required.

What happens when we sweep our true secret stories of grief and loss under the rug and don’t share them?

All the incredible true stories of hope get swept under there too and mate with the dust bunnies of complacency, disappointment, and apathy.

Outlaw Christians like to wear these hope-stories as protection against despair the way cops don bulletproof vests. Human history can be read as a book of evil, but those of us brave enough to dust off the jacket and dig in will discover a hidden transcript of resistance and hope so compelling and creative, we will never see the world the same way again. We must tell and retell our own stories of hope, as well as other peoples.

There’s a faith-law that suggests hope comes easy as pie, that it comes naturally to Christians who love God. But the truth is that if we really want grace, joy, hope, and resistance in this life, we will have to struggle like heck to cultivate them. They easily get choked out by the weeds of evil, suffering, and loneliness. But I know you’ve seen those crazy green shoots growing up even through concrete. The truth is, we can grow them on any street.

The gospel is the good news anywhere and everywhere we find it, and it’s our job to tell it, share it, and shout it from the rooftops.

Excerpt from the book “Outlaw Christian” by Jacqueline A. Bussie