(Note: I wrote this article for the NW Baptist Witness a couple of weeks before the Coronavirus shut down much of our nation)
“We have given our children for Mexico, and now we will go back and give our lives.” Those words were spoken by Minnie Lacy following the death of all five of her children within 15 days. One-by-one the children succumbed to a horrible fever until each was dead. Her husband, George, didn’t think they could continue their mission work. “My Dear, we will give up and come home,” he said, before Minnie spoke those immortal words. This led to 30 years of heroic and fruitful ministry in Mexico. If you want to read the rest of the story, get David Brady’s excellent book, Not Forgotten: Inspiring Missionary Pioneers, and you will read of 18 such missionaries whose names you don’t know, but whose lives mattered much for Christ, and whose stories will help you live heroically for Christ.
I’ve been thinking about courage lately. My dad, when he was a boy, overcame his fear of bees by holding a bee up to his finger, and letting the bee sting him. His mom was terrified of bees, and he didn’t want to be afraid like his mom.
My dad taught me that courage is something that can be attained. We can grow in our ability to act courageously. That’s important because the time will come when each of us will need courage, and having courage may be more important than you know. Rev. 21:8 says, “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars – their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Have you ever associated cowardice with unbelief or murder or idolatry and other terrible sins? Though you may not have made the association, our Lord has.
So how can we practice living courageously? How do we become courageous men and women of God?
First, practice courage. Do things to help you overcome fear. I’m not referring to reckless behavior, but putting yourself into ministry opportunities that challenge your fears.
One of my early fears was public speaking. I had a bad lisp as a child. Speech therapy helped me overcome it, but overcoming it “in my head” took longer. I well remember the worship service in which I was asked to pray for the first time. Without warning, the worship leader said, “Randy, would you lead us in prayer?” I was stunned. But I did it. And it served as an important step to overcoming fear.
Second, do something for Christ that you’ve never done before. Share Jesus with someone. Volunteer to offer a public prayer. Visit a shut-in. Just do something. Spiritual growth requires more than knowing the truth. It requires doing the truth.
Third, read stories of courageous people. Missionary biographies are great. Reading how others lived courageously can help build our backbone. Something that has most surprised me as a ministry leader is that many “leaders” are gripped by fear. Fear of what “powerful people” will think if they take a contrary position, or fear of losing position or perks, too often keeps people from doing what they know in their hearts is the right thing to do. One way to overcome such fear is spend time with courageous people, and this can be partly done by reading their stories.
How does a courageous Christian live? They live in fear of God, not men. Obeying God is paramount, not pleasing others and forsaking God by doing so. The stories of Daniel in the lions den and his three friends in the fiery furnace teach this truth.
Courageous people fear God, not failure. Fear of failure keeps people from “attempting great things for God and expecting great things from God,” to paraphrase missionary pioneer William Carey. Scripture is replete with stories of God-fearing people standing up to tyrants, fighting giants, confronting death because they loved/feared God more than anything.
You can add to the list, but I’ll conclude by saying that we must disciple children to have courage and fear God. The evil one is discipling children to fear everything but God. Don’t fail your kids at this point. Help them be a Daniel, or a Deborah!