The Quest for Boldness
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Proverbs 28:1
Why is there such timidity in our lives today? Rather that demonstrating the power of the gospel, by the power of the Spirit, we tend to lob Christianity with all the conviction of a softball pitch. We commonly tip-toe around bold truth in order to avoid offending unbelievers and we talk to them in an apologetic tone, what is wrong with us? Do we see anything like this in the life of Elijah, Paul, or Jesus Christ? No! Why not?
I would suggest to you that the answer is staring us in the face. It is my fear that the church today is filled with primarily tares and lost sheep, sin is the norm. Jesus warned that whoever relaxed one of his commandments would be the least in the kingdom of heaven, yet pastor and parishioner do it with impunity today. We love our sin and in refusing to turn from it, the church has become quite fearful.
When we give ourselves free license to sin, we are simultaneously quenching the spirit, and spiritually emasculating ourselves. If we want any boldness, vigor, or life we must stop compromising. Jesus proclaims, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”1 What does this mean to us? Simply this; if we pray to God to help us to overcome the big sins in our life, while excusing the small ones with clever phrases like “that isn’t my conviction, bro”, we are deceived and should not be surprised when we experience constant spiritual defeat.
To live the victorious Christian life we must repent, turn from our sins and follow God. We cannot give ourselves permission to indulge in the “little” sins, or the “big” sins will not have dominion over us. If we were totally unable to resist sin Paul would not have told us “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts“.2 So we must follow James guidance and Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.3
1. Luke 16:10
2. Romans 6:12
3. James 4:7
