Courage

Manly Christian Trait #3

A post by Paladin Actual

Masculinity is the pursuit of manliness, and man is made in the image of God. So true masculinity is the pursuit of Godliness, not in self-deification, but in honor of God and striving to reflect those good traits he shines on the world.

Today we’ll be talking about the manly Christian trait of Courage.

Courage is one of those traits that is often misunderstood. Courage does not mean capacity, courage is not when you are going to do something that is easy for you to do.

It is not particularly courageous for me to squish a scary little bug that crawled in the house. It’s not courageous for me to speak my mind when I am surrounded by people who agree with me. I am not stunning, brave, and courageous when I do things with no consequence and no difficulty in the face of no opposition.

Courage is also not stupidity. Courage is not jumping off a cliff because you think by the sheer capacity of your boldness, you will fly.

True Christian courage is when you face a challenge, you face adversity, and you do so boldly because you have faith that God will get you through it. That no matter what happens, you are putting trust in your creator to handle the situation, to be strong when you are weak, and that His guidance and direction will always point you in the right path.

When you think of someone courageous, maybe you think of a strong fireman running into a burning building, or a Marine running towards the gunfire to save others, instead of away. These are examples of courage, absolutely, but you don’t have to be physically tough to be brave, to have Christian courage. In fact, one of the most courageous Christians I ever met was a skinny little Iraqi Christian boy.

It was early 2014 in Baghdad Iraq. The Islamic state was on the rise, they had not yet taken Mosul, but in a few months they would control the city and all of the equipment left in it.

Mosul, for those who aren’t aware, goes by another name, Nineveh. It is the ancestral birthplace of the Iraqi Christian, or so they proudly declare. When the Islamic state took Mosul they followed the dictates of the Quran and slaughtered or enslaved anyone who wouldn’t convert.

Many Iraqi Christians saw this coming long in advance. Unlike us in the west, Iraqis know first-hand what certain ideologies are capable of.

So many Iraqi Christians had moved out of Mosul to Bahdad, or other countries if they could manage. Andrew’s family were part of that group, first from Ninevah, now living in Baghdad and attending St George’s Anglican church. Their priest, Canon Andrew White, aka the Vicar of Baghdad also happened to be my chaplain at the time.

One warm evening Andrew and his family were in their house in Baghdad. Without warning, they were face to face with armed members of the Islamic State, who entered this Christian home.

Passing over some uncomfortable details, these armed men brought Andrew in front of his family.

“You will reject your false god” they demanded of the young boy “you will say that Allah is god and muhammad is his prophet.”

“I love Yeshuah and Yeshuah loves me.” Andrew replied.

“You will reject your false god, or you will die”. The men repeated.

“I love Yeshuah and Yeshuah loves me.”

That night young Andrew, the same age as my son, became a Christian martyr. With his courageous words of truth he was slaughtered in front of his parents. They were left alive to tell others what would happen to those who did not submit to allah.

Andrew was named after his priest. With his baptism he was given the triune name of God. And with his final words he demonstrated the courage that may be required of every Christian. With his death he proved his own claim true,“I love Yeshuah and Yeshuah loves me.” Yeshuah, Jesus did love Andrew and that night Chrst took him home.

The martyrdom of St Andrew of Baghdad is one of the events that ultimately led me to seminary, and I can only hope to have the courage God gave him that night.

So what is Christian Courage? Why is this specifically a biblical concept?

Perhaps to first understand courage it helps to understand the opposite of courage; fear.

Fear isn’t just feeling afraid or uncomfortable, but fear is the active belief that God will no longer help, or can no longer help. That God either does not care, or is powerless to. This is, properly understood, sinful.

There are many verses where Christians are commanded not to despair, to be afraid, or let their hearts be troubled.

In John 14:1 Jesus says
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

So the opposite of troubled hearts is hearts of faith. Belief and trust in God. This will start to paint a picture of what courage is.

In the same chapter, Jesus says this (John 14:27)
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

So some degree of courage is being at peace. A special kind of peace that comes only from God. Interesting, what else does the Bible say?

Jesus says this in Matthew 10:26-33
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

God commands you Christians to be courageous, not to fear, not to despair. This isn’t just an empty command with no reasoning behind it, but rather Jesus explains that it is not reasonable to fear anything but God.

“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul”. Another way to phrase this sentence in brave defiance, “What are you going to do, send me to my God?”

On this earth a person may take away all of your earthly possessions, may harm you or those you love physically, but most permanently of all, the most they can do to you is kill you. And even with all of these things, even if you suffer worse than Job, you still come out victorious because your God is on your side. Your God has promised you a place in His kingdom as one of His sons.

The only one worthy of being truly feared is God, and He is on your side, giving you every reason to be courageous.

In Romans 8:31-39, we have this promise about God:

What then shall we say to these things? 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? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure 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.

So if the only one worthy of fear is God, and He loves you, then what excuse do you have for cowardice? To despair? To not have courage?

Because of discomfort on this earth? You will experience greater comfort than can be described in heaven and the new earth.

Because you will be hated? Despised? Blessed are you when you are persecuted for the sake of the Gospel. If someone hates you because you are Christlike, then you should rejoice in the opportunity to be like Christ rather than be afraid of what the world thinks of you.

True courage is an inspiring thing. People acting contrary to their fears, saying what is true, doing what is right, boldly holding firm to the Gospel, these are some of the most moving acts of masculinity a Christian can perform.

Cowardice, on the other hand, is one of the most revolting and disgraceful traits. A person who claims that the Bible says such and such, or the Christian message commands and promises this or that, yet will not fight for that truth. Will not defend that truth, articulate how they came to the truth, and share that knowledge of the truth with others.

What good is it for an evangelist to share the Word of God only with those who already believe it? For a man to hide his faith at work and school, around relatives and friends.

No, you are called to be bold, especially about the proclamation of the Gospel. To speak the truth in love, but so help you, to speak it!

None of this quivering, “let's agree to disagree” cowardice. If you have the truth of Scripture, truth which may save a soul, that The Holy Spirit will use to create faith. If you have this truth, and you refuse to share it because it may be socially difficult, then what are you? Do you are call yourself a man?

Men have courage, Christians have courage, it is commanded by God to have courage, and forbidden by God to despair.

God gave Ezekiel a command to be courageous, to give warnings to unrighteous and righteous men. That is to preach the Law to both believers and unbelievers. This principle extends to fellow Christians, and especially to Christian leaders, like fathers and pastors.

Ezekiel 3:18-21 says this:

If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.”

So what is your excuse not to have courage in sharing God’s Word? In trusting in the promises of God?

It can’t be that you are afraid of others, what they might do, God has removed that fear. He alone is to be feared, and instead of His fearsome wrath, He directs His love towards us.

Are you afraid that they won’t listen? It doesn’t matter. If they listen, then thanks be to God, they have been corrected as a fellow Christian, or saved as a former unbeliever. And if they don’t listen, then thanks be to God anyway, you did the right thing, and who knows how He will use His word so it does not return void. God had a purpose in you giving that Word to the one who, at least for now, seems to have rejected it.

So you have no reason to be afraid. You have every reason to be courageous.

To be courageous is ultimately to be faithful, to trust in the commands and promises of God, to trust in God Himself.

Psalm 23 (v 4-5)  is one of the many Psalms that forbid despair, and embolden courage.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surrounded by danger, surrounded by death itself, you have nothing to be afraid of, be courageous.

God has prepared a table before you in the presence of your enemies. In defiance of your enemies. Sit at that table with courage, eat boldly, drink confidently, what can they do to you with your Good Shepherd at hand?

Moses was courageous when he had faith in God and confronted Pharaoh.

David was courageous when he had faith in God and confronted Goliath.

Elijah was courageous when he had faith in God and confronted the prophets of Baal.

Peter was courageous when he had faith in God and stepped out of that boat onto the water.

Most of all, Christ was courageous when He had faith in His Father, and submitted to false trial, torture, and death, all for the sake of the forgiveness and salvation it would guarantee for the one He loves and protects.

What He won for you, no one can lessen or take away. Be a man, be courageous in Christ.

God bless you all, and take care.