Boldness

“So the challenge is for us to live in such a way that we are radically dependent on and desperate for the power that only God can provide.”

 - Radical by David Platt

I've mentioned the boldness that I have seen in the lives of the kids that I work with, the absolute willingness to do the things that they here God asking them to do.

I flip through the New Testament, and I see statement after statement referring to the boldness of the young Church.

Some of them jump out at me because they are underlined. As a shy high school student, I was fascinated by the boldness that I saw in Paul's letters and in the book of Acts. These were people who ought to have been afraid but weren't.

The more that I see Christ followers here move towards justice, towards giving God the parts of their lives that they thought were safely theirs to keep, the more that I see that same boldness here.

The boldness of kids committing to something that they don't know if anyone else has committed to, of adults doing things that are hard for them, and the boldness of people willing to seek community among humans not of their own age or race or generation. The boldness of a group getting together and stubbornly deciding to do something about human trafficking. The boldness that spans generations who see and understand and wait impatiently to be called to action.

The boldness of a people who are not afraid to be marked by God.

Because, bold can be just another word for radical.

Are we boldly willing to depend on and be desperate for the power that only God can give? Are we willing to do things so out there that the only response is, “Well, that was bold”?

Do we trust enough to be that brave?