Come Correct with Your Holy Boldness

In last week's post, I mentioned the booklet Holy Boldness that I received from Great Aunt Blanche. This week, I'm focusing on the short (1-1/3 pages) introduction. Despite its brevity, the reader learns quickly that there is no time to be wimpy in your boldness and that you will be doing BIG things with this boldness.

Image by Steve Harvey at Unsplash

Let me state that this text was created by the American Bible Society and published in 1995. It was prepared for The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. Because there is no expiration date on God or the Word, I'm diving into these words 25 years later still expecting to learn a thing or three.

Now, let's jump in...

Essentially, the introduction, written by the late Bishop Felton Edwin May, states that there are two prerequisites to Holy Boldness.

"First, we need to know what we believe." We need to know and believe that Christ was both crucified and resurrected, and because we know and believe this, our response is to be Holy and Bold in a world where we are often faced with pain, negativity--those things that try to disconnect us from what we know and believe. This Holy Boldness is directly linked to the resurrected Christ's strength, and because of that, our lives become Christ-centered.

The second prerequisite constitutes our ACTIONS--that is, what we DO with what we know and believe. And this, for many, is where things start to get real. As Bishop May states, "We need to put ourselves out on the front lines of mission and ministry where Holy Boldness is required." So, this does not mean we just live these quiet holy bold lives and keep this knowledge within. No, we are to look within our families, our communities, our cities and states, our country, our world--and use our Holy Boldness where we are called to.

Today, we are living in some perilous times. We are half a year into the Coronavirus pandemic, we have witnessed major unrest as we deal with continued deaths of black people by the police, and we are not too far away from a crucial election. These all call us to be more united than we've ever been, but that's hardly been the case. In just considering these three events, however, what might we do to use our Holy Boldness? I'll mention a few quick examples for each below.

Coronavirus: we can wear our masks, educate others on the importance of wearing masks, practice social distancing, help those in need by picking up prescriptions and or groceries, donate to causes that help frontline workers...

#BlackLivesMatter: we can, first, open our minds beyond our small little worlds so that we can truly immerse ourselves into learning the history of this issue, what we are truly fighting and striving for, dismantling our own prejudices and ignorance, supporting initiatives to help prevent police brutality and to call out for action (and BE the action) when these tragedies arise, voting...

...which leads to Election Time. I'm not going to tell anyone who to vote for. That is your choice. But this is what I will tell you...

In Mark 16:15, we have Christ's Commission to His Church to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation."

To add to that, here is a new commandment we receive from Jesus, stated in John 13:34-35: "...that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

We are in unprecedented times when loving one another as Christ loves us and preaching the gospel to the WHOLE creation are vital. Think about that love that Christ bestows upon you... think about the gospel. Think about who we are voting for and what they stand for and believe in and how they might be likely to treat ALL of us not just a small pocket of people. Think about how your vote ties into "love of all" and the meaning behind the gospel. Make choices that help all of us prosper--that's using your Holy Boldness.

I've written a lot, and my mind is churning with so many more thoughts--and this is just the INTRO! Let me move into conclusion mode...

All of THIS is to say... this is not about the Holy Boldness we have... but about the Holy Boldness that lives in Christ who dwells within us. So this is about us dying away so that Christ's Holy Boldness can make moves and change the world for the better. This is about us getting over ourselves so that we can see BEYOND ourselves and to others who need help.

Bishop May concludes the introduction with this powerful sentence: "We don't learn the meaning of faith if we never trust God enough to stop playing it safe and taking risks on behalf of the gospel."

1. What do you KNOW and BELIEVE... for real? Do you really believe Christ lived, died, and resurrected? Do you really believe that His Holy Boldness dwells in us?
2. What actions will you put forth to illustrate that knowledge and belief?
3. What are you willing to do to show God that you trust Him unequivocally?

 

The Holy Boldness Series

• Post 1: When Your Grandma and Aunt Whisper, "Holy Boldness"