“…the righteous are bold as a lion” – Proverbs 28:1

“Since we have such a hope [Christ being our hope], we are very bold” – 2 Corinthians 3:12

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness” – Acts 4:31

WHILE IT IS needless to say that our culture is riddled with political correctness, when churches have acceded to the subtle notion of diplomacy, we have serious issues on our hands. Even though we have Church and State as two separate entities, many churches have succumbed to the elusive dictates of a secular government. Many Christians almost wince with shame when they share the gospel, so they tone down the flavour of it to make it more palatable for our generation to hear and accept it, hoping that some people may ‘stumble’ into the kingdom of God through abstract and glossed-over truths. We are to be gentle as doves and wise as serpents, but that gives no excuse to lack forthrightness when it comes to dealing with people’s souls.

Is it the Christian at fault, in the eyes of our present government, when he or she lives a righteous way, a way in which such principles were upheld and integrated by our former leaders who governed this nation? Can the moral law be changed over night? Do today’s political leaders think they have the right to call what is lawlessness, law and law, lawlessness? Should the Christian feel embarrassed to stand for marriage ordained to be expressed between man and woman only? Should Christians feel they are committing a crime when the government labels them bigots because they refuse to uphold and embrace homosexuality? Are we prepared to hold our heads up high and be called bigots for Christ’s sake, even if that implicates our arrest and imprisonment? Is it a crime to call the modern cultural trend that justifies abortion, murder? Should the Christian feel ‘behind the times’ of this world because they will not move forward with a diverse-sin-plagued society, when God, Who is outside of time – and which time is but a drop in the bucket – has opened our eyes to the reality of eternity? Is it not the world that is irrelevant and foolish to the Christian? Is it not the world that foolishly clings to what is passing away and laughs at the Christian preparing their lives for eternity? Who really is the fool when the Christian refuses to love this world and its sin because they have been saved from the coming wrath of God, while the world continues to defiantly ‘shake their fist’ at God and say, “There is no God…there is no right and wrong”?

We need a recovery of boldness; we need to see the glory of the gospel again in its entirety that enables us to proclaim it with the utmost confidence. We need to know what Paul meant when he said “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” It is the most astounding and positive message that any human will ever hear.

Because of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, we are to call people to repent and urge them to be reconciled to God. We are not to lighten sin or cower under society’s pressure and the mandate of governmental warnings; we are to preach the whole counsel of God and we are to preach it in such a way that divides, discerns and exposes the whole man (Hebrews 4:12-13). Spirit-emboldened preaching will offend and wound the pride of man to the point of despair – despair in themselves until they see the only Hope, Jesus Christ.

The one and true gospel message has never changed and neither will it; the power of its message never weakens. Are we filled with such power? The power is not making ourselves adaptable to culture but to God’s ways. The prayers of the righteous avail much; do we pray more than we evangelise? E.M. Bounds said, “The key of all missionary success is prayer.” It is not our personality that wins people to Christ; it is Who Christ is that wins people to Himself.

Do we believe God brings balance to those who walk close with Him? As we walk in the Spirit, we grow up into Christ in all things; we mature. Of course, Christians walk a ‘narrow path’ in this life, but with a broad mind enlightened by the realities of eternity. The secret of reaching the lost is to be loyal to Christ; trust Him with every breath of life; pursue Him with every step of your life and He will pour rivers of living water through you to the lost; walk aright with the One Who is the Good News and you will proclaim that message to the world with all relevance. You will not be behind the times; you will bring eternity into our times and that is the entire ‘relevancy’ needed to reach the heart with Christ.

Do we have confidence in the New Testament Christ Who has commanded us to go into all the world and proclaim Him? There are two types of preachers that exist today: one who declares the truths of God’s Word, yet being void of His power, while the other is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to pronounce God’s truths with heavenly boldness. There is much charisma in our pulpits today but not much of Christ. They may often mention His name and what He’s done, but there’s no presence of Christ. It is Christ and not the charisma of man that brings about true conversion. Many successful leaders have a mass of followers unto their name but not unto Christ; there are many members loyal to their leaders, but hardly any disciples of Christ. “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God Who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).

This is in no way to breed rebellion against our secular government, but to rather stand in the power of God’s might and live as lights amidst a crooked generation. Christians are not exempt from subjection unto our earthly rulers; we are to obey them. But when it comes to sin, we are to boldly obey God rather then men. In the midst of all the upheaval of a morally disintegrating society, led by a God-defying government, we must, as Christians, recall that our fight is not “against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Our primary station is to proclaim Christ unto the ends of the earth, whether we are to remain at home or move to other lands. We are to boldly announce the coming kingdom of God, whereby all nations shall soon bow before Him. Come what may as a result of being loyal and faithful to Christ’s Great Commission, let us, as Oswald Chambers said, “Obey God and wash our hands smilingly of the consequences.” The consequences belong to God Who is sovereign over all; our responsibility is absolute obedience unto Him.