Credibility is a tricky thing. Once you lose it, you can't get it back. But we live in a society where people are constantly trying to take away our credibility. If they do not agree with what we have to say, they will try to discredit us.
Rather than take the civil and dignified approach of addressing or attacking the message, they choose instead to attack the messenger. They misrepresent us by feeding misinformation to others or leaving out important details. This is how malicious rumours start. But if we do have people on our side, then those trying to discredit us will make the claim that the opinions of those who support us are just not important - they don't count. This is how the 'in' groups keep the 'out' groups from disrupting the status quo. But if someone from a position of power chooses to stand up for us, then his or her peers will intimidate or discredit him or her, or make him or her guilty by association. This is how peer pressure works.
These things don't just happen in the school-based social arena in the modern day. They've been going on in all walks of life ever since the original sin was committed. Rather than being understanding and open-minded, humanity instead resorted to skepticism and pervading a culture of fear. It's been all power games since the fall. Credibility is like armor that's constantly under attack. Keeping credibility is like maintaining the integrity of the armor.
John 7: 40-53
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