Bold Christianity

by Duke Taber

I have been blogging and running a website now for over a year and a half. My Facebook fan page has been in existence for almost as long, although it has only really been active about 6 months. One of the things that I have noticed since I have been interacting with the broader church in general is that there is a real lack of boldness when it comes to people talking about, and sharing their faith. This is especially true for those that live in the western world and even worse in the United States.
Because of this lack of boldness, it has left a vacuum. It seems that the only people who are bold about their faith is those that really do not portray an accurate picture of Christianity. They are those people that put pig’s heads on poles at Muslim gatherings or those that protest military funerals with signs that say “God hates homosexuals” etc. Those people seriously tick me off. However in all honesty, the fault arises not with the vocal few that have boldness, but the silent majority that no longer are bold as Christians. If we as Christians were walking in the boldness of the early church, these people would not be heard. So I wanted to do an article to encourage you to become bold as a Christian.

A biblical foundation for boldness

There are many motivational factors for why people get bold. Not all of these factors are biblical reasons for boldness. Some have to do with pride or prejudice rather than being motivated out of a love for God and the people that we are being bold with. So let’s take a look at the biblical motivating factors for being bold.

Joshua 1:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

The first thing we need to realize as we are seeking God for boldness is that boldness comes from the realization that we are not alone. That God is with us wherever we go and that if we will just be faithful to open our mouths, He will be faithful to back us up. It is that old adage that says “God and I equals a majority”. If God is for us, then who can be against us? The reason we do not speak up is because we are either afraid of what people will say or we are so discouraged in our faith that we no longer have the heart to say anything. We get too focused on the consequences of what will happen if we do speak up rather than on the fact that God is in control of our lives and is in control of the consequences.

John 7:25-27
New King James Version (NKJV)
25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? 27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

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