Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you should stand up for the truth, but you hesitated? Maybe it was gossip, a false story, or pressure to compromise your convictions. That’s hard enough when the cost is just awkwardness or reputation. But what if the cost was much higher—your friends, your job, even your life? That’s the question before us in Mark 6, where we find the horrific story of John the Baptist’s death. At first it feels like an interruption, but Mark has placed it here—sandwiched between the disciples being sent out and their return—to remind us that proclaiming the message of the King comes with a cost. To follow Jesus will bring rejection, and the question is: will you compromise, or will you stand courageously?

John the Baptist stood courageously. He confronted King Herod and Herodias over their adulterous and sc ...