Courage

One of my favorite movies as a kid was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, with Don Knotts. It’s about an ordinary even goofy guy who becomes a hero. He plays a typesetter at the small town newspaper who is looking for his big break to becoming a reporter. He takes a dare to spend the night in a spooky abandoned house and writes a thrilling story the next day about it being haunted. The whole town comes alive and labels him a hero for facing such danger even though he is the town’s most high-strung, fearful citizen.

I can relate to Mr. Chicken. I want to be brave. I want to think I’ll do the right thing at the right time. When people look at my life, what do they see? Do they see tales of heroism? Do they see someone who is bold in the face of adversity and courage under fire?

What makes a hero? Pastor Andy Stanley defines it as ‘someone who has clarity and the irresistible urge to act.’ I like this definition. Clarity meaning they can walk into any given situation and see clearly what needs to be done. It doesn’t mean they aren’t afraid but they did the courageous thing. They had an irresistible urge to act on what they clearly knew was right.

We as parents need courage. We can find God’s views on courage in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2: “For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, [why not?], but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition.” Paul’s life in Thessalonica had not been in vain because he’d had boldness in God and courage to share the gospel. Boldness to do the right thing at the right time makes our lives count. It keeps us from coming to the end and saying, “Nothing happened. There was no significance.”

Have you been to a funeral? At a funeral stories are shared of the person’s life. What stories do you want told about your life? “Well, things got tough at home between the husband and the kids and all the responsibilities so she left.” That’s a story. Or a story might be, “Things got tough at home and she stuck it out and made a difference in her marriage. She fought for her family and had an amazing impact on her kids.” That’s a story. Courage makes our lives effective and significant.

Paul says in Thessalonians we get our courage from God. He had suffered terribly in Philippi. He had been publicly dragged into the market of the city and charged with sedition because he cast a demon out of a girl. And then he spent the night in jail. Now in Thessalonica the mob was even more enraged and Paul barely escaped by night to Berea. That was the setting for his ministry. And in that setting he spoke the gospel courageously because he had boldness in his God.

His life was given up to God. His life was hidden in God (Col. 3:3). He trusted God (2 Cor. 1:9). He hoped in God (Rom. 15:13). The glory of God was more attractive to Paul than any earthly comfort: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us" (Rom. 8:18). Perhaps the greatest obstacles to courage are the love of human acceptance and praise (even that of your children), and the love of the comforts and securities that money can buy. What has to happen inside for these powers to be broken?

Paul had clearly been set free from these hindrances: 1 Thess. 2:4b: "we speak, not as pleasing men but God, who examines our hearts." Verse 6: "nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others." Verse 5 again: "We never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed-- God is witness."

The way to courage is to get your acceptance from God and find your satisfaction in Him. There’s somebody in your life that is hoping you’ll be a hero for them; that you’ll have the courage to stand up and do the right thing. You won’t think you’re heroic but in their eyes you’ll be that person. Every child wants their parent to be the hero in the moment when it’s time for someone to do the right thing, to pay the price, to make the sacrifice. We want our kids to stand when it’s time to stand, to say ‘no’ to those temptations that come. Let’s show them what courage looks like and what God looks like through us when we gain our courage from Him.

(Resources for this article were taken from messages by Andy Stanley and John Piper.)