Bold and beautiful
"I fear the raised eyebrow almost more than I fear the raised fist," he said.
It was a startling admission from a veteran Christian leader who lives in a place where his faith is unwelcome and expressing it publicly is usually illegal. He works in areas where believers are oppressed and their worship severely restricted. Yet he and his team often find opportunities to speak and to demonstrate the love of Christ to people who consider Christians the enemy. Some team members have been jailed and interrogated. The threat of persecution is a constant presence. Yet they persist.
Curiously, he says the threatening circumstances are not his biggest problem. Adverse conditions actually have a way of galvanizing the team and nurturing a sense of divine vocation. In this group's experience, God has a way of showing up most tangibly when human inadequacy is most evident. Especially in the hard places, God rewards their faith with deep encouragement. Here is where they find their spirits strengthened.
But this clarity of calling can easily be lost when the pressure isn't on. Why is it hard to speak comfortably about God in simple conversations with people who seem largely indifferent to faith concerns? Why does the desire to be accepted or respected suppress our confidence in the simple power of the gospel? Why is our spiritual edge so dulled in the absence of confrontation and when comforts abound?
The Christian leader quoted earlier works in an area of the world governed by grave religious constraints, yet the heart of his concern speaks directly to the Canadian condition where a secular society pushes faith to the periphery. Because religion has a way of disrupting polite society, we readily suppress our evangelistic mandate. To be on the skewered end of the ironic eyebrow shuts us up more effectively than active hostility.
Bold and clear, please
Strangely, the apostle Paul may have suffered from the same malaise. In his prayers, Paul frequently calls on God to respond to the concerns of Christian believers. He asks for many things and much grace on their behalf. Yet only rarely (12 occasions) does Paul request prayer for himself. And when he does, the dominant theme is that he would be bold and clear with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How's that? Are we really talking about apostle who seemed to court confrontation with Christians, Jews and Gentiles alike? This is the author who wrote a third of the New Testament and articulated the foundations of Christian doctrine, isn't it? Aren't we referring to the man who took the gospel message by ship and foot on several missionary journeys throughout the Roman world? Wasn't he imprisoned (and ultimately executed) precisely for communicating a bold and clear gospel?
It's quite possible that Paul wasn't doing just what came naturally to him. He may not have particularly liked confrontation. He could have had moments of doubt about the reckless wisdom that propelled him. Perhaps the Macedonian call seemed like a vague dream the morning after. Paul certainly knew his own weaknesses, which are matters that we can only speculate about.
But we can acknowledge that the characteristics for which he is most remembered reflect the substance of the prayers he requested on his own behalf. And no doubt the experience of God's presence in the midst of adversities—flogging, prison, stoning, shipwreck, squabbles with colleagues, etc.—encouraged his faith, affirmed his calling and strengthened his resolve. Hostile circumstances helped to galvanize the group.
Many of us, especially in the West, are all-too-content to be people pleasers. We shy away from the dreaded prospect of being on the receiving end of disdainful glances from colleagues, friends and neighbours. We are not bold with gospel, and neither are we clear. As Paul modeled, this is likely a good thing for us to be praying for.
Requesting boldness and clarity in advancing the gospel does not mean becoming belligerent, unduly aggressive or unloving in any way. But it does suggest that we need to be secure enough in our own commitment to believe that Jesus Christ really is good news for all people. Clarity isn't much of an issue if the message doesn't really matter. Boldness is not necessary without the presence of fear.
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