Dear friends in Jesus. Once again, I am stepping out of my normal practice of writing a devotion and I am going to share an article from “Chuck Colson about the necessity of courage in this cultural moment”.
Now courage is not a lack of fear. It’s the willingness to do what you have to do in the face of your fear. Courage, Jerry Root and Stan Guthrie note in their book The Sacrament of Evangelism, is the habit of saying yes to the right action, even at the risk of pain or loss. Courage never gives up. Courage sticks with the task until it’s done. Courage faces one’s fears and does the right thing in spite of them.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, of course, would be near the top of anybody’s list of courageous Christians. He had the courage to defy the Nazis at the cost of his life. On his last day, Bonhoeffer held a brief service for his fellow prisoners. A contemporary who was there describes the scene. It’s described in Eric Metaxas’ wonderful book Bonhoeffer, which I strongly recommend. Bonhoeffer hardly finished his last prayer when the door opened and two evil-looking men in civilian clothes came in and said, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer, get ready to come with us.”
“Bonhoeffer drew over to me,” the man writes, “drew me aside, and he said, ‘This is the end, but for me the beginning of life.’” Bonhoeffer and countless martyrs like him through the ages had the courage to stand up to evil in the name of Christ and pay the ultimate price.
Do we have the courage to lay it all on the line? Do we have the courage to speak out for traditional marriage when we know we’ll be called bigots and worse? Or would you have the courage to stand up at a school board meeting and speak against a curriculum that indoctrinates kids and sexual license? You’d have to prepare to be shouted down. Believe me, it takes courage to take an unpopular stand and risk our popularity, our reputations, and maybe even lose a few church members.
Now I could be wrong, but the continuing assault on religious liberty is a test. If we lack the courage to defend our religious freedom, then we will lose all other freedoms as well. Remember this, however: It’s easier to summon up courage when you know someone has your back.
I learned this well when I was a lieutenant in the Marines. I knew my men had my back and I had theirs—that they would have laid down their life for me. That inspired courage in me. I have to say, too, that when we act for goodness for truth, Jesus Christ has our back. He is the source of our courage, He who laid down His life for us. (end of article)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are living in a day and age when evil is blatantly being promoted as good and good is being lambasted as being evil. Declaring the truth of God’s Word centered on the Gospel is the purest form of what is good. Supporting those beliefs and practices which are in direct opposition to the teaching of Holy Scripture is the greatest display of evil. Which side do you choose to be on? God is clear in His directive to each of us that there is only one right answer!!!!! May God help you make the right choice!
Pastor McCarty