I have spent today, reading through various posts by pastors who were hoping that the “infighting” would stop in their congregations, some had hopes of becoming able to suddenly preach the gospel without fear.
So let me ask you this: Do you want to live and speak more boldly for Jesus Christ? I do. How badly do we want it? Do we want it enough to ask, seek, and knock untilGod answers us and to take risks that press on our timidity? Or, if we’re honest, would we rather just keep wishing we were bolder — admiring bold people, being inspired by biographies about bold people, talking with our friends and small group members about our struggles with fear of man — all the while staying where we feel safe and relatively comfortable and letting fear go unchallenged?
My flesh likes the second option with a more flattering description. The Spirit says, “If you want to walk with me, choose the first.” There’s the battle line. “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17). But in this battle, there’s no stalemate. One side always holds sway. So, “choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15). In Christ, “we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith” to God our Father (Ephesians 3:12). The truth is there’s no power in heaven or on earth or under the earth that remotely approaches the power of God. He is the only one we need to fear (Luke 12:4–5). And Jesus took upon himself every reason we have to be terrified of God. Now in Christ God is for us. And, If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31–32)
If we can now “with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16), who then should we fear (Psalm 27:1)? Jesus did not die on the cross to have us quivering in a corner because some human being might say something mean, or stop our paychecks, or sever a relationship, or even kill us (Luke 12:4). No! For Jesus has ensured that,
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38–39). The only reason fear-based timidity remains in us is that we don’t believe these mind-blowing promises. What freezing fears might melt away, like snow in April, if we let the bright rays of Romans 8 shine on our shadowy places of unbelief, even for just a week? After sunbathing in Romans 8, we should take an invigorating walk through the book of Acts and watch how Spirit emboldened the early Christians were.
Peter and John, once frozen with fear, when filled with the Holy Spirit, were out preaching the gospel for everyone to hear (see Acts 2:14–41). This soon got them arrested — the very thing that had terrified them before — and their boldness astonished the Jewish authorities, who then “recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).
Don’t you want to bear that bold spiritual family resemblance? It requires the Spirit of Jesus (Philippians 1:19).
 |
| John Wesley, stained glass window, St. Botolph's, Aldersgate, London, England, UK |
But, Rachel, I am scared, I am scared, I’ll loose my commission, or I’ll not make it through dCom, or those who are my future peers will hate me. Guys, I get it. I live in the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC). I watched with great trepidation on Tuesday as we found ourselves standing up for a reaffirming of the definition of marriage and ordination. I went to a conference with my pastor about learning to share my faith, while there I was introduced to many pastors in the Western NC Conference. Many of whom, have read my works here online and they were impressed that a candidate would speak so boldly about Jesus Christ and what is going on in the UMC. They already know I wear a target on my back because of my conservative views—yet they encourage me to continue on speaking, knowing what it is possibly costing me!
I want to tell a story if I may. As many who are Methodist know we have a thorough way of discerning ministry candidates. I don’t know many people who can endure what I did, with being honest about my past, to taking a psychological exam where the interpreter ends up saying “Your results were refreshingly honest.” I went to my District Committee on Ordained Ministry (dCom) and was deferred due to my conservatism, I went to the local divinity school (Duke) and was deferred…most likely due to my conservatism. I came home from both and told my pastor “I am going to fly under the radar, until I can get through dCom and become a licensed local pastor (LLP). Friends, that lasted all of one, maybe two days. I could not do it! Why? Why would I want to continue risking everything to preach, even if it means I have to come to you from behind a screen…well…frankly, because there is a Heaven to be gained and a Hell to be shunned. Someone reading this blog, their eternity may depend on hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and some of my pastoral friends…well this may encourage them to boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Boldness is the courage to act or speak fearlessly, despite real or imagined dangers. When a person acts boldly, he or she takes action regardless of risks. A petite mother will boldly snatch her child’s hand away from a six-foot stranger. A man may boldly stand up to a dictatorial boss, knowing he could be fired for doing so. Boldness is not to be confused with rashness or aggressiveness. It is, however, similar to assertiveness in that it empowers someone to do or speak what is necessary, in spite of the possibility of a negative outcome.
Boldness was one of the first characteristics the Holy Spirit imparted when He came to indwell believers after Jesus ascended into heaven. The followers of Jesus had been hiding in fear of the Jewish authorities, praying and encouraging one another. Then the Holy Spirit came upon them, and those formerly terrified disciples became fearless preachers (Acts 2). A short time later, as the disciples faced persecution from the authorities, they prayed for boldness (Acts 4:29). Their prayer was answered, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and “spoke the word with boldness” (Acts 4:31). God gives us boldness when our objective is to obey and glorify Him with it.
Luke tells us in the book of Acts that we are to boldly proclaim the word of the Lord. Paul’s story in Acts ends with Acts 28:30-31 30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
My own 9th great grandfather, the founder of Quakerism in Ireland, William Edmundson, was known for his boldness in ministry. He and his wife, Margaret, settled in Lurgan in 1654, where they opened a drapers shop, and he started the first Quaker meeting in Ireland. Quakers were persecuted in Ireland as they were in England, and Edmundson was frequently imprisoned. Yet when he was let out, he’d go right on back to preaching the truth. Going so far as to walk straight into the Catholic churches and preaching the gospel message there.
So much of a bold man of faith was William Edmundson that John Wesley wrote of him in his journal (July 17, 1765) “If the original equalled the picture, (which I see no reason to doubt), what an amiable man was this! His opinions I leave; but what a spirit here! What faith, love, gentleness, long-suffering! Could mistake send such a man as this to hell? Not so. I am so far from believing this that I scruple not to say “Let my soul be with the soul of William Edmundson!” (The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, ed. N. Curnock New York, 1910, V, 137.)
We speak of wanting Revival, but too many of our pastors are scared to speak and boldly proclaim Jesus Christ. Let’s take a look at John Wesley and the characteristics that lead to revival—part of the great awakening.
God gave John Wesley several unique qualities that deserve consideration. First, he placed a tremendous emphasis on preaching. He saw clearly that this was the first work of any servant of God. Sunday, April 8, 1739, is illustrative. At 7 a.m. he preached to about 1,000 in Bristol. A little later in the day he preached to 1,500 in the open air on the top of Hannam-Mount in Kingswood. Still later that day he preached to 5,000 at Rose-Green. Two days later he went to Bath where he preached three more times to similar crowds. All this with no microphones, shouting into the wind and elements in the open air.
Second, God’s power was with him. Despite the fact he was an average preacher, it was not unusual for people to be tremendously affected by the Holy Spirit’s convicting presence. The following entry in his diary was typical: "Many of those that heard began to call upon God with strong cries and tears. Some sank down, and there remained no strength in them.” Neither Wesley’s gifts nor personality explain these results. He depended completely on God’s supernatural anointing, and God dispensed it liberally throughout his ministry.
Third, he was courageous. He feared no man. God’s anointing brought tremendous persecution. Crowds were often difficult and violent. "As soon as we went out," Wesley said of one place, "we were saluted, as usual, with jeers and a few stones and pieces of dirt.”
"Wesley and his friends," wrote one biographer, "were often attacked by gangs armed with clubs, whips, bricks, stink bombs, wildfire, or rotten eggs. Sometimes bulls were driven through the audience or horsemen overrode them." In the face of this terrific opposition Wesley pressed forward, always seeking first the kingdom of God—like Paul, fearless. (Notice the contrast between the new Wesley and the fear-filled unbeliever in the Atlantic storm.) Wesley’s boldness also appeared early in his ministry when he returned to his hometown. When the village rector who had replaced his deceased father refused to let him preach because of his enthusiasm, he mounted his father’s grave that was next to the church and preached to a substantial crowd in the open air with momentous results.
Fourth, he was always a loyal Anglican. He did not want to start a new church. Although thousands were saved through his ministry, he ran it as a parachurch organization within the Church of England. This was a weakness. He refused to recognize what was really happening—God was calling out a people for himself from within a dead church structure. After his death, his followers broke away from Anglicanism and formed the Methodist church. It numbers over 9.7 million members today, but for the most part, the anointing of Wesley is gone.
Post-Pentecost they didn’t always feel bold. In fact, in Acts 4, when the disciples came back from the astonished authorities, they told the church of the threats they received. Everyone understood the implication: persecution and possible execution. So, did they flee back into hiding? No, they prayed for boldness:
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” . . . 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 4:29, 31)
In answer to prayer, fear melted away and they received a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and renewed boldness to keep speaking.
Boldness is not constant or taken for granted. We must keep praying for it whenever we need it. Even the apostle Paul experienced this. That’s why he asked the Ephesians to pray that he “may declare [the gospel] boldly, as [he] ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:20). Boldness is not an option for us, but it’s also not a given. Since it is not a constant gift of the Spirit, we must pray for it frequently.
Preach, Sister!
ReplyDelete