“For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10) We live in a day and age when biblical character is little understood. We’ve taken the great moral attributes declared by God in the Scriptures and have refashioned and redefined them to fit into a secular mindset. Too long the church has allowed the ‘world’ to define how humility and boldness should act. Humility has been changed to mean a limp-wrested, effeminate, and soft spoken weakling…one who stumbles over his own words and fails to offend anyone.
No one was more humble than Jesus Christ. And yet, in the Gospels we find Him confronting and speaking straightforward to the Pharisees and other religious hypocrites with clarity and conviction. He wasn’t placed on the Cross and executed because He held a symposium of ideas. He was murdered because He declared the Father’s will to sinful man, and men who desire to continue in their sin will hate anyone pointing it out.
Concerning boldness, the world makes us think that it must be rude, crude and abrasive. Worldly boldness is applauded by those who think it means to humiliate others and shame them with acidic comments and snarky accusations. Again, we see in the Gospels that no one has been as bold as Jesus. Yet, His boldness was not one that sought to vanquish others, but one that sought to redeem all. Biblical boldness is a quiet confidence in the truth of God and the willingness to share it as necessary. It is not loud or obnoxious, cranky or mad. It is like an old oak tree that has stood the test of time and is settled in the deep truths of God.
We live in a day when our nation, our communities, and our churches need men and women who are humble and bold. That is, willing to boldly stand and speak the truth of God’s Word with the character of humility and respect. While Jesus’ voice was never heard “crying out in the streets” (Matt. 12:18-19), it was heard crying out in prayer from the Cross. (Matt. 27:46)
The genuine humility of the messenger contributes strongly to the reception of the audience. That doesn’t mean all will receive us. However, most appreciate people with strong convictions as long as their words are coupled with respectful dialogue. Humility comes before honor (Pro. 18:12), and boldness comes from spending time with Jesus. (Acts. 4:13) If our words do not minister ‘grace to the hearers’ (Eph. 4:29), we have failed to properly demonstrate the gospel.
We cannot be the messengers we need to be without the enabling presence of the Holy Spirit. In our own strength we’ll either be bold without humility, or try to be humble by avoiding speaking the truth. Both are failures. Truth will offend those set on a lifestyle of sin—it always has. Lord, help us raise up a generation of truth speakers in our churches—a generation that loves others enough to proclaim God’s wonderful message of redemption with…Broken Boldness!
