Wednesday, October 7, 2026

“For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” (Philippians 1:20, New Living Translation)

               “Bold” derives from an old English (West Saxon) word, “beald”, meaning "stout-hearted, brave, confident, strong."  Our seven-year-old grand-daughter, Amelia, exhibited some of the boldness of her late, great-grandmother, Barb Neal, this past Friday. Mom could take great mischievous, undaunted  delight in arranging “surprises” for birthdays and other cerebrations, especially at restaurants. At the restaurant on Friday, where we were celebrating my birthday, there was Amelia sidling up to our waitress and arranging for a birthday cupcake to be delivered to our table along with the requisite “Happy Birthday” song and a birthday picture to be taken. There had already been several such celebrations and she didn’t want me to be left out. She boldly acted on her own and it was done before any of the others of us knew what she was doing. Thank you, great-grandma Barb!

                The apostle Paul wrote about being bold for Christ. Amelia’s actions got me to thinking about what that might mean. Here are a few thoughts.

                “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.” (Ephesians 4:15) Some people may interpret this verse as permission to be bluntly and rudely honest.  I have had a couple of parishioners like that.  I have been prone to be like that myself on occasion. But we are missing the “in love” part of the equation. This is whole verse calls us to be Christ-like in our words and actions towards others. It means we should choose our words wisely and carefully so as to build up and not just tear down. Our words should be spoken respectfully, humbly, in the hopes that we might repair any damage or hurt caused in our relationships. Sometimes, the truth spoken needs to be more about ourselves than our brother or sister in Christ. “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.” (Matthew 5: 22-24, The Message Bible)

                “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:37) Don’t make promises you can’t keep. Don’t be a hypocrite.  The epistle writer, James gave us a vivid image of the damage our words can cause. "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” (James 1:26) There are many ways that we may think we are being bold in our faith by using Jesus to be judgmental, critical, authoritative, preachy, condemnatory and self-righteous on top of it all. But authentic boldness for Christ leads us to servanthood, humility, trustworthiness, compassion, and the fruit of love. Piety is not measured by how loud we are, but by the fruit of the Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5L 22 -23)

                “Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, in spite of great opposition.” (1 Thessalonians 2:2) In the Book of Acts, there are several times when the members of the new Church were described as boldly spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yes, sometimes, that was by preaching openly in public places. But it was even more so by demonstrating the power of the Holy Spirit through their acts of love, generosity, compassion and good works. As a friend of mine often says, "Spread the Gospel; if necessary, use words.”  Good evangelism happens through our love for one another.  It is not the grandiose sermon that wins the hearts of people but our actions of compassion, justice, good works so that when people ask why we do what we do, we are prepared to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. “Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” (Colossians 4:6) And if that mean to be counter-cultural, to go against the grain of popular belief as we live out our faith, so be it.

                So, let’s be bold – in a Christ-like way. Stand up, stand up for Jesus!

 Prayer:

                O God, our Redeemer, may the words of our mouths and the actions of our hands and hearts be acceptable to you. Save us from false piety and aggressive behaviour towards others. Lead us in the way of Jesus, the Way of Love, forgiveness, kindness and mercy. May we put into action the loving words of our faith.  In Jesus’ name, amen.