Boldness

1.     What is biblical boldness?

Most people think of boldness as a positive trait. Even so, some ask permission to be bold with phrases like “if I may be so bold”. One might have the boldness to say something over a text message that they wouldn’t dare say in person. Some bypass their inhibitions by means of alcohol and behave in a way they wouldn’t dare to while sober. Others are bold in their sin, like the woman of Proverbs 7. Or maybe they are bold by nature, but their boldness is of a brash, arrogant, ignorant, or unkind nature.

When you think of boldness in the Bible, you may well think of the book of Acts. Here we see a boldness unlike any of these above examples. They didn’t ask their audience permission for their boldness. They didn’t have any digital technology to hide behind. Despite some accusations, they were not helped in their boldness by alcohol (Acts 2:15), but by the Holy Spirit. And it was anything but uncaring boldness (Romans 9:1-3, 1 Corinthians 13:2, 2 Corinthians 5:20). Their boldness was calculated, not always taking the most dangerous route, nor fearful even of death. Their boldness was not arrogant, appealing to the truth of God and His word rather than to their own rightness. Their boldness was not ignorant, but wise as careful stewards of the gospel. They were boldly uncompromising with the content of the Gospel and the authority of scripture, yet swiftly willing to compromise if they perceived that something lawful could impede the effective communication of the gospel (Acts 16:3, 1 Corinthians 8:7-13, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33). We should all desire such boldness, and the darkness around us certainly needs more shining lights taken out from under their bushels.

2. How can I grow in boldness?

To cultivate genuine biblical boldness, start where the apostles did: don’t just pray for boldness – get the whole church to unite in this PRAYER (Acts 2:23-31). Pray to be delivered from self-sufficient boldness. Pray to be delivered from worldly boldness. Pray for godly boldness in advance and pray for it in the moment when you see it is needed. The Spirit can help you to silence and confound His adversaries, knowing your great natural weakness while witnessing supernatural boldness (Acts 4:13).

Next, remember that the tone of all Christian boldness must be LOVE. But how can you be bold in your love to someone you don’t know? Your first act of love will be to want to get to know them, and see to it that you do. This will require sincere listening and time. Even if they seem unlovable, we are called to love even our enemies as Christ loved us while we were yet enemies.

Remember that you have no AUTHORITY of your own to be bold. You are an ambassador for Christ who holds all authority and commissions his disciples to speak His authoritative message. There is power in boldly proclaiming Christ’s truth, but only in so far as you appeal to and expound only that truth. How well do you know the Word of God?

You must also maintain with your boldness a humble TEACHABLENESS like that of Apollos (read Acts 18:24-28). He was bold and knew the scriptures, and yet Priscilla and Aquila were successfully able to explain to him “the way of God more accurately”. We need to be teachable to gain the wisdom needed not only to understand the message we want to boldly proclaim, but to understand how best to proclaim it, and what aspects of our proclamation may present an avoidable obstacle between the hearer and the gospel.

Finally, what can inspire the EARNESTNESS, or sincere urgency, with which the apostles boldly shared the gospel? Think about the worthiness of God to receive praise from every corner of His creation, your gratitude for your eternal inheritance in Christ, or the imminent danger of hell for the unsaved. Only do not let your motivation come from a diluted sense that the salvation of souls depends on your clever words or theatrics. God doesn’t need you, but it is your supreme privilege that He enlists believers to be a part of what He is doing, and He will be there as you go. (1 Corinthians 3:6, Matthew 28:20).

Serve up all your boldness on these “P.L.A.T.E.S.”, and you are on your way to understanding and living out a truly biblical kind of boldness. When you get to the end of this list and find yourself deficient, go back to the beginning – prayer – and ask the Lord to help you to try again.

• Andy Gruswitz