I just ran across a great post on Donald Miller’s blog about being a slave to public opinion and always pandering to this jury of one’s peers and superiors.  It spoke to me directly.  His punchline is great:

It really is a waste of your time to defend yourself to anybody but God Himself. And it’s even more of a waste of time to claim any defense other than Christ crucified.

Well said.  But easier intellectually acknowledged than deeply believed, much less lived out.