Boldness for Christ

In our Young Professionals Bible Study class this past Sunday we talked about boldness for Christ.  I wanted to follow up our discussion with some additional thoughts and some possible points of application.


James McDonald describes boldness as "candor (honesty and sincerity) in the face of opposition."  Another writer suggests that when we are living our lives "avoiding conflict" then we are most likely not being bold for Christ.

One of the questions that I posed on Sunday was this: What is going on in my heart when I am not bold?  What am I fearful about?  Am I holding onto something and am I afraid of losing something?

In answer to this question at some level there is some selfishness involved on our part.  If we think about boldness in relation to our witness for Christ, then when I don't speak up about God's truth I am thinking more of myself and my own comfort, than the need that the other person has for Christ in their life.  I suppress the truth of God, that I have come to know and believe, for the sake of not offending the other person, or possibly not being liked by them.  In essence we have placed the opinions of how others perceive and receive us as being more important than being obedient to God and telling them about His love for them.

At another level it is a lack of trust in God on our part.  We are telling God that we are not sure if we can trust Him with this relationship.  "God if I tell this person about you, they might not like me, or they might get angry at me; and I'm not sure if I'm up to dealing with that rejection, and if that happens I don't think you can help me with that."  This is what we are saying to God each time we choose not to speak up for Christ.  But here's the deal (we know this), if God loves me and accepts me because of Christ's redemptive sacrifice; when others don't like me, or get angry at me, or reject me, they are in reality rejecting God and His truth to them.  Yes, it hurts, but God is always with us (He never leaves us or forsakes us); His love will comfort us in our loss, and His Word of truth spoken in love to this other person will have and make an impact.  In reality there's too much at stake not to tell them the truth.  We must, even when there is great risk.

So, what do we do?  First, ask the Lord to forgive us for putting the opinions and perceptions of others about us, above God and His call to obey Him.  Secondly, ask God to give you boldness just like the early church did in Acts 4.  "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness."  Acts 4:29  Third, make time with Jesus a priority in your life each day.  Proverbs 28:1 says, "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."  Our righteousness comes from Christ Himself, He is our righteousness; so boldness will come as we walk with Him and in the power of His righteousness.  Finally, realize that there is a risk in being bold for Christ, but the risk is worth it if one person is added to the Kingdom.  Let's do all we can to be bold for Christ and seek to share His love with others.

Prayer - Lord, forgive us when we place the opinions and perceptions of others above your command to go and tell others about you.  As you granted to the Apostles and to the church in Acts chapter 4, we pray for boldness in telling others about your awesome and amazing love.  We know the risk, we see the possibility of rejection and even ridicule; yet for your sake and glory we choose today to speak up for you.  Bless us today and grant to us opportunities to share your love with others.  In Christ name we pray, Amen.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, so feel free to join in on the conversation.  Have a great week and we will see you soon.

Pastor Mike

Impersonations

I've always enjoyed listening to impersonators. Those are folks that can imitate another persons voice. And over the years I have myself learned how to imitate the voices of other people. Now, I'm not very good at it, but it's very entertaining! (Or at least I thought so.)

Well, this week Holy Spirit has been challenging me about this little habit that I have of imitating the accents and voices of people of different ethnic groups. I found myself a couple of times this past week, making fun of people of a different ethnicity, and realized that this was not appropriate. God by The Holy Spirit was making me aware that this was sin.

I asked for God's forgiveness and began to seek to repent. My question was "Why do I do this?" My first thought was about being prejudiced. And my habit of impersonating other ethnic groups is a form of prejudice. As I continued to pray and ask for direction, I realized that this habit is always in social situations where I'm trying to be funny and entertaining.

I realized that my desire in these situations is to fit in and to be like by those around me. There's nothing wrong with this, because we all have a deep desire for connecting with others. But, sinning in order to get that acceptance is obviously not appropriate. I wonder how many times, I compromise my integrity and quench Holy Spirit in my life, in the effort to be accepted by others?

Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Whether I thought it was funny or not, corrupt words have been proceeding out my mouth, all for the sake of being funny. I have asked God by His Spirit to help me put this sin of the flesh to death in my life.

I'm looking forward to conversations in the future without this habit. Have a great day and may your words always be encouraging to others.

Got Gossip?

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to go to church and worship and be a student in bible study rather than the teacher. I always enjoy these kinds of opportunities. In the bible study we were studying the book of James together and talking about how we use our words. One intriguing question that came up during the study was, "When you have an opportunity to hear some gossip, how do you respond?"

There was a lot of good discussion in the group about this question and while we were talking this thought occured to me. How can we make Jesus Lord in this kind of situation? When a friend says they have some good gossip about someone, how can we let Christ be Lord in that situation?

Here's the deal. Gossip is tantalyzing to us. It's like a tasty tid bit that many times we love to hear, then pass on to others. But the Bible teaches us that gossiping is not a good thing, because it hurts others. So, when confronted with the opportunity to hear or participate in gossip, I can choose to honor God, or I can choose to honor my fleshly desire to hear and spread that gossip. And the question is, will I make Jesus Lord in that situation? We have a choice in those moments.

I shared this thought with the group that I was studying with, and said that I was not sure how this looks. I mean, how do you make Christ Lord in this situation? In a very practical way, how can I honor Christ when it comes to dealing with gossip?

So that's my question for this week. How can make Jesus Lord when given the opportunity to hear or spread gossip? I'd love to hear the different ways that you have used to deal with this matter.

Have a great week, and as always, I'd love to hear from you.

In Christ,

Pastor Mike

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