Wikipedia defines boldness:
Boldness is an opposite of shyness. A bold person may be willing to risk shame or rejection in social situations, and willing to bend rules of etiquette or politeness. An excessively bold person could aggressively ask for money, or persistently push a person to fulfill some request, and so on. Excessive boldness may thus be regarded as impertinence or arrogance. Outside a social context, "boldness" can also refer to a willingness to get things done, even despite risks, and is therefore broadly synonymous with bravery.
Why is it crucial for us to be BOLD?!
Take a look at this clip:
As you can see, there is a growing trend to slowly remove God from society. It is up to Christians everywhere to stop being politically correct and start professing God as much as possible.
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What are some examples of boldness being portrayed in the Bible?
What does it take to have that confidence?
Let's weigh the consequences of being bold vs NOT being bold? Are they legitimate enough to even worry about?
Is there ever a situation where we can be TOO BOLD?
16 comments:
Next week's small group will meet at the big pavilion with the red roof at Riverwalk. You will need to bring your own food (10% off a panini at Capture =-)
We will meet at 7:30 again and remember to bring a jacket ladies =)
Actually, I don't think that boldness is important. As I understand it, when most people think of boldness they think of an emotional state characterized by an absence of fear. This is mainly what I am referring to when I say that I don't think boldness is important. I also think that a distinction can be made between boldness as an emotion (i.e. the absence of fear) and boldness as behavior (see Jesus' numerous challenges to the religion of the Pharisees).
I do think that boldness in behavior is important. Most of us are comparatively polite and decent people. However, the true standard of Christians is not politeness or propriety it is God's Word. Many of the things that Jesus said to the Pharisees could be considered impolite. Like Jesus with the Pharisees we need to be willing to confront evil when we see it. I tend to believe that such a willingness involves more of a change in perspective than it does a change in our emotions.
Trey
Trey,
I think your missing the point in this topic. This is not debate about the definition of boldness.
We are trying to learn to be bold about God in our everyday lives. The importance of expressing our faith both through our actions and incorporation into our speech.
The definition of bold does include the absence of fear, but it also includes 'prominence' 'assured' 'confident'
When you type in BOLD it sticks out more. Which is what we as Christians need to do more of. In a world where conversations rarely included spirituality, and where the word GOD is considered offensive, it is our job to be bold, confident, assured and prominent among those around us.
Here's some scripture to consider.
Acts II small group texts: Boldness
Anchor text: James
James 5:13-16
These verses are a great moment in the conclusion of the letter of James. Verse 16 in particular stands out to me: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (ESV) There is no need to be timid about your faith, especially in a Christian community!
Words of Christ: Luke 11:8-10
8I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness[a] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (NSV)
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence (my italics) he will rise and give him whatever he needs. (ESV)
8I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity (my italics) he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. (KJV)
8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence (my italics) he will rise and give him as many as he needs. (NKJV)
This is a very interesting take on boldness throughout different translations of the scripture. Boldness seems to me to be the best choice for how the noisy friend is behaving, because it seems to be an ambiguous word. Is the boldness good or bad? Well, the dude waking up in the middle of the night probably thinks it’s a terrible thing! He won’t even help the friend knocking by virtue of their friendship, but he will help the friend because of the friend’s boldness (verse 8). Boldness is something celebrated in contemporary Western culture; in America we are loud and proud. Here Christ celebrates boldness, but in another verse of Luke he warns us that boldness, even (and perhaps especially) in Christ’s name is not without its consequences: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Luke 12:51)
OT Reading: Proverbs 21: 28-30
28 A false witness will perish,
and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever. [a]
29 A wicked man puts up a bold front,
but an upright man gives thought to his ways.
30 There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan
that can succeed against the LORD.
Here boldness is bad, in the context of fighting battles for the Lord. Why would scripture warn against boldness in the midst of advice for how to fight for God? I think it goes back to that ambiguity: is boldness really always good? I also find a link to Shon’s sermon on Sunday. Shon preached Sunday on how appearances can be deceiving. On the outside, a person might look like he has it all together, but on the inside he might be a royal mess. I think that Solomon is saying something similar: a man might look bold but be quaking inside, while a righteous man is more calculated in his boldness. The upright man starts with boldness in God and doesn’t concern himself with how he looks.
In response to Bryan's post and Trey's comment:
I think that scripture handles boldness with a bit of ambivalence. Proverbs seems to be conservative, warning against a too-hasty boldness. Christ in the gospel of Luke seems to be the Rambo of BOLD evangelism.
Trey, I think that you are right about not getting lost in emotion, but boldness IS important! Even though I missed discussion on relationships last week, I know that my relationship with Christ is a very emotional one, so I want to use any emotionally-charged situation (including BOLDNESS) to get closer to Christ and bring Christ to others.
I heard a really good sermon once about speech. The anchor text for that sermon was James 3 starting in verse 8:
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.[b]
What comes out of our mouth is a direct is a direct representation of whats in our heart.
Here are some proverbs:
The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain;the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions. (10:11)
Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (15:4)
Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. (12:18)
Wise words are more valuable than much gold and many rubies. (20:15)
Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket. (25:11)
The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive. (16:21)
Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. (16:24)
And another good verse from Ephesians:
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:29)
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We can do so much just by examining the way we speak. If we never talk about our faith to our 'unchurched' friends or to friends that we don't know whether they are christians then we are putting our lamps under a bushell
Nowhere is the union of faith and works more visible than in your speech...and my speech. What a thought. In fact, somebody said, "Everyone of us is carrying around a concealed weapon." All we have to do is open our mouths and it's unconcealed. Do you realize that you speak about 18 to 25 thousand words a day? Some people have said that men speak 25 thousand words a day and women speak 30 thousand words a day, I don't know who counted that up, but the difficulty is by the time the man comes home from work, he has already spent his 25 thousand and the woman hasn't started on her 30 thousand. She's been waiting for that opportunity.
But we speak a tremendous number of words a day. Somebody calculated that we probably put together a 54‑page book every day. And in a year, we would probably produce about 66 800‑page books. This may shock you. You will, if you're a normal person, spend one fifth of your life talking. It's kind of interesting, you probably remember as a child, I do, whenever I went to the doctor, my parents would take me to the doctor, the first thing the doctor would say is, "Let me see your tongue." James is saying the same thing, "let me see your tongue."
The nurse puts a thermometer under your tongue and tells your physical temperature. James says, your tongue itself will take your spiritual temperature.
When I think about boldness, I do not immediately think about words. I think of living boldly. That is what Christians are called to do. I get frustrated with Christians who speak boldly but live like cowards. Giving your life to God is about adventure and taking chances and trusting in God so completely that you will go against every instinct you have if He is calling you to follow. Galatians 5:1 says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. We live in a world that is in bondage to sin, but Christ has set us free! Why do we try to hide our joy of that freedom so as not to cause commotion among those still in prison? Christ and his followers spoke boldly, yes. But their bold words merely underscored the bold life they were already leading.
I feel uncomfortable telling nonbelievers, "I'm right and you're wrong," but I am getting more and more comfortable shouting,"I'm free!" People respond better to that anyway. In China, I was in studies in which we debated evolution. No one became a Christian. But I did have students come up to me and ask, "Why are you so happy? Why are you so kind to us? Why do you laugh all the time?" And I'd tell them. And they were freed.
The thing I need to be cautious of is that I'm not drawing attention to my own freedom, but to the path of freedom. James 4:10 commands us to humble ourselves before the Lord, and he will lift us up. God stoops down to make us so much more than we ever dreamed we could be. Why am I so afraid to celebrate that?
Here's a little something I found.
Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson
Quoted by Nelson Mandela at his Inauguration in 1994.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
tu shay Andrea,
I think you bring up a great point about this topic. I hope that my previous post did not portray anything to the extent of being 'all talk'. My thoughts were random excerpts from a study that I had a long time ago.
The fact that we are 'free' should be evident in everything we do. I know several Christians who realize their freedom but only when around other Christians. In an attempt to be non-offensive to other people in their lives (co-workers, customers, strangers, etc) the tendency is to blend in, conform to stereotype, or become that fly on the wall.
This need not be so. I remember Shon's sermon a few weeks ago when he spoke about celebration. One thing he made reference to was an Alabama ball game. 150,000 fans all dressed in bama clothes, screaming 'roll tide' to one another, fellowshipping on the quad, coming together in one place to 'worship' the team. The cheerleaders are the worship leaders, leading us in chants such as: B-A-M-A BAMA ALL THE WAY, DEFENSE-DEFENSE, YEA ALABAMA, CRIMSON TIDE......,
When the team wins, everyone is so pumped up, highfives are everywhere, hugs, tears, feeling of oneness with everyone wearing like colors, proud to walk out of that stadium knowing that you were part of it all. When strangers ask you during the week "Hey, you for Alabama or Auburn" do you hesitate? Do you shy away? NO you scream in the guys face 'ROLL TIDE BABY!'
Imagine if we could honestly have as much emotion, zeal, pride, confidence in Jesus Christ!!
Sorry if I'm repeating other people's comments; I am going to post my own thoughts before I see what the rest of the group has been thinking about.
2 Timothy 1:7 was the first verse that came to my mind...it is one of my favorites.
"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER, love, and self-discipline."
God has already equipped us with the spirit of boldness. It's not a 'character trait' that a lucky few get born with. It's HIS spirit, living in ALL of us, that empowers us to lead passionate, purposeful, loving lives that glorify Him and point the way to His Son.
Here are 3 areas where I know I need to be bold:
1. Sharing Jesus to the world.
*"Go into all the world" was not an option or suggestion, but a command. We should probably take it seriously, since it came from Jesus' mouth and was important enough to be his parting words from earth to mankind.
2. Making "big" decisions.
*I don't know a verse for this one, but it's what I've been dealing with in my personal life. I think I need to be prayerful and seek God's will in everything I do. But ultimately, God DOES give us the power of choice, and expect us to use it wisely. When the time comes to make an important/difficult/lifechanging decision, we ought to not fear making prayerful, BOLD decisions. Being wishywashy and uncertain doesn't really glorify Him or indicate that we're trusting Him with our hearts and lives.
3. Prayer
James 1 says that when you ask for something, you should believe that God will answer your prayer. Sometimes I know I "limit" God by not talking to Him about certain topics. I may omit things from my prayer life that seem "too important" or "too big" to trust Him with.
Another verse I thought of:
"Let your light shine before men..." - think about it. Light can't HELP but be bold. Its very nature makes it stand out, turn heads, illuminate all darkness. It doesn't have to think about being a light, or TRY. And since WE are the light to the world, we can't really help but illuminate darkness.
I heard in a sermon once that the MOST common 'command' or instruction in the Bible is "Do not be afraid"/"Fear not." God does not want us to be crawling around, scared and anxious, wondering if we have what it takes to make a difference for His kingdom. Sometimes we DO need to hear "hey, don't be scared; I love you and I'm with you" from God - because we're human and forget. But as soon as we remember this incredible fact - we should be encouraged, pumped up, and wanting to go tell the world the good news we are so blessed to know.
Many of us have been watching that youtube video that was referenced in church last Sunday. I want to post a link to it in case any of you have not seen it yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA
I think this is a good portrayal of being free
I know that I am faced with this trouble every day. Some of the bible verses that I found that clearly tells us to be bold are below:
Pro 21:29 A wicked person shows boldness with his face, but as for the upright, he discerns his ways.
Act 4:13 When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus.
Act 28:31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with complete boldness and without restriction.
2Co 3:12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness,
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and confident access to God because of Christ’s faithfulness.
Phi 1:20 My confident hope is that I will in no way be ashamed but that with complete boldness, even now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether I live or die.
1Ti 3:13 For those who have served well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
This definitely makes me realize that we are to be bold in everything that we do no matter what.
One of the verses earlier talks about Peter and John's boldness, we know that Paul was bold and above all Jesus was bold and we can see what it got him.
Everyday we are put into circumstances and situations where we can easily go with the flow but this is not what we are told to do. We are told to be strong and courageous and tell others how we feel, not laugh when people talk about their crazy weekend filled with drinking and no telling what else and sometimes staying at home when many other people are out doing things that they should not be doing. This may be a little harsh but it is definitely true. Sometimes all it takes is an example or someone showing you that you can be an amazing person and have lots of fun while at the same time being able to live for God in everything that you do. Your life will without a doubt be happier and filled with everything you want for it!!!
Regarding the discussion on the interpretation of the word bold/boldness and its relevance to our Christian walk, I can only speak to what the word means to me and personally, the very sound of the word, invokes a sense of challenge. By nature, I am a very timid person and tend to let my own insecurities overtake the freedom that Christ has provided me. Therefore, to be bold about my faith and to forget the world around me is a challenge (in the earthly sense). However, these verses give me the biblical knowledge and assurance that these insecurities of mine fail miserably in comparison to the strength that is assured me through Jesus Christ:
"The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments." -Habakkuk 3:19
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him that loved us." -Romans 8:37
"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the lord shall be thy confidence, and keep thy foot from being taken." -Proverbs 3:26
"For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." -1 John 3:20
* All these verses are from King James Version...yeah, I'm old school like that.
And of course, there's the whole bit about not putting your lamp under a jar.
Well, that's all I got. This is Carrie Smith, by the way.
Link to the meeting notes:
http://web.mac.com/capturestudios/SALT/9-26-07.html
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