September 16, 2024 • 20 mins
Have you ever wondered what it means to have true boldness in your faith? Join us in this enlightening episode of "Guilt-Free Faith" as we uncover the essence of boldness from an Orthodox Christian perspective. We kick off by exploring the idea that real boldness isn't about being brash or arrogant; rather, it involves taking faith-driven actions and waiting patiently for God's timing. Reflecting on Jesus's ministry, we discuss how He demonstrated self-control and wisdom amidst external pressures and how His example can guide us through our own everyday challenges, whether they're related to health, finances, or relationships.
In our practical segment, we share personal stories and insights on maintaining quiet boldness under pressure. We delve into the reality of fluctuating confidence and how the severity of life's trials can test our ability to stay firm in faith. We also address the often-overwhelming pressure to appear as unwavering believers and highlight the importance of authenticity in expressing our faith and gratitude. This episode brings to light the nuances of genuine boldness and encourages listeners to embrace a more authentic, resilient faith journey. Tune in for an honest, insightful discussion on navigating the complexities of faith under pressure.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today we're going to talk about boldness, how to be
bold in the Lord, how to findthat deeper courage to take hold
of all the things that God haspromised us.
Hi everyone, jimmy JamesJohnson here another episode of
Guilt-Free Faith.
Today we're going to talk aboutboldness in the Lord and how we
(00:27):
can use courage to fully takehold of everything that Christ
died for.
So first we'll have a little ofthe Orthodox take on this topic
, inspired by my mentor, andthen we'll get into my
controversial commentary afterthat, and I believe you will
(00:50):
come away from this perhaps withsome questions answered,
perhaps with some differentperspectives on this whole issue
of Christian courage andboldness and why it's important
and what role it plays in ourlives, because we are often
(01:11):
sidetracked and hijacked by fearand by timidity and doubt, and
that really makes it hard toactivate our faith.
So let's get right into it.
When we think of what boldnesslooks like on someone, we think
(01:37):
of a person who is daring,courageous, brave and fearless.
Some people think they are bold, but they are merely rude,
arrogant and impudent.
They would be much better offjust being honest and admitting
(02:02):
that they're afraid, instead oftrying to pretend that they're
brave while living a lie.
It takes true courage andboldness to walk in faith and
wait for God to vindicate you,especially when you're
(02:25):
ill-treated or you're believingfor something big and perhaps
you're receiving some criticismfrom around you.
Genuinely brave people not onlyhave the courage to take action
, but the courage to wait on Godwhen they need to.
(02:52):
During the three years ofJesus's early ministry, many
people thought he was crazy.
His own brothers wereembarrassed by him and, in an
effort to save their reputation,they told him he needed to go
(03:18):
somewhere else and do his works.
But if he was unwilling to dothat, they had another option.
They said hey, take action,stop doing your works in secret.
They tried to convince him itwas time to show himself and his
works to everybody, to theworld.
(03:39):
In other words, they wantedJesus to impress the people with
all of the powers that he hadand all of the things that he
could do.
But he responded to them bysaying my time has not come yet,
(04:01):
john 7, 6.
Has not come yet, john 7.6.
Let's be honest, how many of uscould show that kind of
self-control when we have somuch power and so much blessing
within us that we could exercise, that we could prove ourselves
(04:21):
right and prove others wrong,could prove ourselves right and
prove others wrong.
We must be wise enough to knowthat our plans will ultimately
fail without God.
If our confidence is a fruit ofus being first rooted in God,
(04:41):
then we have the right kind ofconfidence which produces true
boldness.
As Paul said, we areself-confident in his confidence
.
So let's talk a little bitabout that.
(05:01):
Here are Jimmy James Johnson'scomments and feelings and
thoughts, just uncensored.
So obviously, every day, lifebrings manifold challenges to us
.
Some of them are minor we stuba toe, we run into a traffic jam
(05:43):
but some of them are incrediblymore hefty in health or the
restoration of health, believingfor a turnaround in our
finances.
Perhaps it's a promotion or araise or a windfall that we're
hoping for to get us out of ajam.
(06:03):
There are also deep relationalproblems we have in our
relationships with people.
We have some chronicrelationship problems, severe
chronic problems where importantpeople in our lives, we're at
odds with them.
(06:24):
There's acrimony, there'sbaggage and an inability to
bridge that gap to find sometype of peace or resolution.
So we have plenty of stuff thatwe need to be able to believe
on.
And when you look around theworld and even you, examine your
(06:49):
own life and recognize all ofyour failures and
disappointments and the manytimes you called upon God and
don't feel like you were heardor you weren't answered in a way
that you felt was sufficient orsuitable.
(07:11):
Or perhaps the timing of whatyou wanted to change differed
from God's.
And indeed in the Word it saysthat God's time is not our time,
so we know that God's on adifferent schedule.
Time is not our time, so weknow that God's on a different
schedule.
Because of all of these thingswrapped together, it can be very
(07:34):
challenging, overwhelming tobelieve for, to sow seeds into
the hope for bigger things orturnarounds or miracles, however
large or small.
(08:02):
One of the elements of living abig life in God is boldness by
other people's criticisms, otherpeople's judgments, what people
think we should do or not do,is what we're asking for or what
we're praying for or we hopefor?
Is that quote reasonable?
(08:24):
Or should we in fact bebelieving boldly, believing in
something more and somethinggreater in terms of just taking
the shackles off God and takinghim out of the little box of him
(08:45):
only being able to do so much,him only being able to do so
much.
Certainly, the living God cando much more beyond even our
imagination.
Oftentimes it's only byexamining our record over many
(09:15):
years that we begin tounderstand or see the potential
pattern of God's intervention inour lives.
What does it feel like to bebold in God?
Perhaps it's a sensation, right, of being able to stand
resolutely in the midst ofpressure and doubt and dismay
and disappointment.
(09:35):
But one of the challenges is,it often isn't a feeling that we
can bottle or somehow captureand embrace tightly.
Oftentimes, that type ofboldness or that type of courage
(09:56):
is something that we have tokeep alive in spite of not
feeling it.
And wow, what a challenge thatis when you're all beaten down
and whatever.
You're facing poverty, you'refacing sickness, you're facing I
(10:16):
face all these things.
So I can tell you withconfidence that I am certainly
not above being completelydevastated by life's events and
I wish I could report thatduring those times I was like
(10:38):
solid as rock, like I was justkicked back, cool and relaxed.
Hey, god's got it.
Pass the crevasse yeah, youknow what I mean.
Let's just have a good time.
No, past the crevasse, you knowwhat I mean.
Let's just have a good time.
No, many of those times I wasreally just encased like in a
panic and really just paralyzedby all of my imaginations and
(11:06):
all of the catastrophes that Icould see on spool and my mind's
eye.
What does boldness look like inthose circumstances when you
don't feel bold at all?
Oftentimes, I find boldness issimply putting one foot in front
(11:27):
of the other.
It's infrequently this dramaticrollercoaster storyline where
something happens to the maincharacter and then they somehow
muster up more courage than anyof us have and they defeat their
enemy or the monster.
We can be so captivated by thatversion of boldness that we
(11:54):
really lose touch with the morereasonable, the more attainable
but not at all sexy version ofboldness, which is simply
putting one foot in front of theother every day, not having any
(12:14):
clear answer, not knowing whereyou're going, not knowing in
which direction even you shouldbe heading.
You're just literally gettingup and trying to survive the day
and all of us, at various timesin our lives, are broken down
(12:35):
into that mode just survival.
How do I get through today?
I can't even consider tomorrow,or a month from now, or a year
from now, or what's going tohappen if God doesn't come
through with an improvement inmy health.
You know how I'm going to pay abill, how I'm going to salvage
(12:58):
a marriage.
There's just so much that's justbecome so overwhelming that,
honestly, when I meet peoplethat profess to have that type
of just unshakable confidence inwhatever themselves or God, I'm
very suspicious of that.
Just because, as just the humanorganism, we know that we have
(13:25):
involuntary reactions todifferent challenges and threats
, and I think most of us knowthat courage is what you do in
spite of that fear.
It's not what you do in theabsence of fear.
It takes no courage to act inthe absence of fear.
It takes no courage to act inthe absence of fear.
(13:49):
Courage and boldness arerequired when fear is at its
height, when false evidenceappearing real, when we're
looking around and seeingdisaster that doesn't feel
secure at all, just practicallyspeaking, because one of the
(14:12):
things that I believe manyChristians could benefit from is
more practical Christian advice.
And what do I mean by that?
I just mean when you have areal problem and you go to
somebody for help, usually youdon't want something just lofty
(14:35):
and theoretical and hypotheticaland theological.
That's not what you're lookingfor.
You actually need to dosomething about this.
For you actually need to dosomething about this.
In my walk and the churchesI've been have, I just found
(14:58):
that's wanting.
And that could be just me, itcould very well also be you.
Why can't we get someinstructions, man?
They're like yes, the Bible hasinstructions and I understand
the idea of living by the Bibleand things, but the Bible
doesn't always make clear wherethe rubber hits the road on
something very specific, likeliterally, what am I supposed to
do right now?
What do I do about this?
(15:20):
Now?
Sometimes the missing componentis that we're not really
supposed to do anything or wereally can't do anything, like
we're really dependent upon godto bring something to pass, like
it's truly outside of our hands.
But even so, as human beings,even if we're waiting for that
(15:46):
to take place, we still need away to conduct ourselves.
In the meantime, we need a wayto not fall to pieces or become
self-destructive.
And oftentimes thatpracticality isn't passed on.
That instruction book For me.
(16:10):
Oftentimes I want somebody totell me directly what to do.
If I'm asking for help insomething like that's what I'm
asking, you know, I'm hopingthat they're going to give me
something really solid that Ican work with.
So, in this matter of boldness.
(16:31):
People say how do I act bold?
There are some things thatoften come to mind that are
external.
Sometimes, if you're a churchor you're around believers or
whatever, there'll be peoplethat are acting or speaking in
boldness.
Right, they're claiming things,they're rebuking things, like
(16:52):
they're just they're gettingfired up.
They're just really popping offwith all the right quotes and
verses and they're all in.
And that can be great.
That can really pump you up andrestore you when your battery's
really low, from getting beatdown.
So I'm all for that.
But I think it would bedisingenuous to actually go out
(17:16):
and teach people like, oh,that's what boldness looks like,
that's what weness looks like,that's what we expect from you
when you're under some type oftrial.
Just speaking for myself, Iinfrequently have that type of
boldness.
It depends on the severity ofwhat's going on.
(17:37):
If it's not too much for me tobear, then yeah, I can be bolder
and pronounce more and claimmore.
But there are times when I'mjust like completely wiped out,
like I just think it's all over,like any, anything, whatever my
life or anything that could begood, or my career, my
(18:00):
relationships, and when you'rein that state for me, you're not
going to see me walking aroundtalking about praise the Lord
and thank you, jesus, foreverything that's going on.
That's not going to be whereI'm at and not that I wouldn't
like to be, but I would onlylike to be if it's in some
(18:21):
authentic way.
I don't want it to be a matterof acting and just as human
beings because we care aboutwhat other people think and
because we care about the waypeople perceive us we can be
pressured in all kinds of waysto put on different types of
acts, and one such act is likethe unshakable believer.
(18:46):
If they're really feeling thatand that's authentic, then
that's fantastic.
I want some of that.
But I also know that a lot oftimes, people that are coming
across like that they're justsaying what they think you want
to hear, or they're saying whatthe pastor talked about that day
(19:11):
and they're just riffing andimprovising on that.
And what I'd like to do todayon Guilt-Free Faith is just
offer up an alternative, analternative that is quiet, an
(19:32):
alternative that is modest, thatreally is not bringing any
glory to my name or setting measide as particularly holy or
powerful, or I have God's ear,watch me just speak everything
(19:54):
into being offered, which isjust the practical quiet of
boldness under pressure, whichmay not look like or feel like
anything.
Today we're going to talk about boldness, how to be
bold in the Lord, how to findthat deeper courage to take hold
of all the things that God haspromised us.
Hi everyone, jimmy JamesJohnson here another episode of
Guilt-Free Faith.
Today we're going to talk aboutboldness in the Lord and how we
(00:27):
can use courage to fully takehold of everything that Christ
died for.
So first we'll have a little ofthe Orthodox take on this topic
, inspired by my mentor, andthen we'll get into my
controversial commentary afterthat, and I believe you will
(00:50):
come away from this perhaps withsome questions answered,
perhaps with some differentperspectives on this whole issue
of Christian courage andboldness and why it's important
and what role it plays in ourlives, because we are often
(01:11):
sidetracked and hijacked by fearand by timidity and doubt, and
that really makes it hard toactivate our faith.
So let's get right into it.
When we think of what boldnesslooks like on someone, we think
(01:37):
of a person who is daring,courageous, brave and fearless.
Some people think they are bold, but they are merely rude,
arrogant and impudent.
They would be much better offjust being honest and admitting
(02:02):
that they're afraid, instead oftrying to pretend that they're
brave while living a lie.
It takes true courage andboldness to walk in faith and
wait for God to vindicate you,especially when you're
(02:25):
ill-treated or you're believingfor something big and perhaps
you're receiving some criticismfrom around you.
Genuinely brave people not onlyhave the courage to take action
, but the courage to wait on Godwhen they need to.
(02:52):
During the three years ofJesus's early ministry, many
people thought he was crazy.
His own brothers wereembarrassed by him and, in an
effort to save their reputation,they told him he needed to go
(03:18):
somewhere else and do his works.
But if he was unwilling to dothat, they had another option.
They said hey, take action,stop doing your works in secret.
They tried to convince him itwas time to show himself and his
works to everybody, to theworld.
(03:39):
In other words, they wantedJesus to impress the people with
all of the powers that he hadand all of the things that he
could do.
But he responded to them bysaying my time has not come yet,
(04:01):
john 7, 6.
Has not come yet, john 7.6.
Let's be honest, how many of uscould show that kind of
self-control when we have somuch power and so much blessing
within us that we could exercise, that we could prove ourselves
(04:21):
right and prove others wrong,could prove ourselves right and
prove others wrong.
We must be wise enough to knowthat our plans will ultimately
fail without God.
If our confidence is a fruit ofus being first rooted in God,
(04:41):
then we have the right kind ofconfidence which produces true
boldness.
As Paul said, we areself-confident in his confidence
.
So let's talk a little bitabout that.
(05:01):
Here are Jimmy James Johnson'scomments and feelings and
thoughts, just uncensored.
So obviously, every day, lifebrings manifold challenges to us
.
Some of them are minor we stuba toe, we run into a traffic jam
(05:43):
but some of them are incrediblymore hefty in health or the
restoration of health, believingfor a turnaround in our
finances.
Perhaps it's a promotion or araise or a windfall that we're
hoping for to get us out of ajam.
(06:03):
There are also deep relationalproblems we have in our
relationships with people.
We have some chronicrelationship problems, severe
chronic problems where importantpeople in our lives, we're at
odds with them.
(06:24):
There's acrimony, there'sbaggage and an inability to
bridge that gap to find sometype of peace or resolution.
So we have plenty of stuff thatwe need to be able to believe
on.
And when you look around theworld and even you, examine your
(06:49):
own life and recognize all ofyour failures and
disappointments and the manytimes you called upon God and
don't feel like you were heardor you weren't answered in a way
that you felt was sufficient orsuitable.
(07:11):
Or perhaps the timing of whatyou wanted to change differed
from God's.
And indeed in the Word it saysthat God's time is not our time,
so we know that God's on adifferent schedule.
Time is not our time, so weknow that God's on a different
schedule.
Because of all of these thingswrapped together, it can be very
(07:34):
challenging, overwhelming tobelieve for, to sow seeds into
the hope for bigger things orturnarounds or miracles, however
large or small.
(08:02):
One of the elements of living abig life in God is boldness by
other people's criticisms, otherpeople's judgments, what people
think we should do or not do,is what we're asking for or what
we're praying for or we hopefor?
Is that quote reasonable?
(08:24):
Or should we in fact bebelieving boldly, believing in
something more and somethinggreater in terms of just taking
the shackles off God and takinghim out of the little box of him
(08:45):
only being able to do so much,him only being able to do so
much.
Certainly, the living God cando much more beyond even our
imagination.
Oftentimes it's only byexamining our record over many
(09:15):
years that we begin tounderstand or see the potential
pattern of God's intervention inour lives.
What does it feel like to bebold in God?
Perhaps it's a sensation, right, of being able to stand
resolutely in the midst ofpressure and doubt and dismay
and disappointment.
(09:35):
But one of the challenges is,it often isn't a feeling that we
can bottle or somehow captureand embrace tightly.
Oftentimes, that type ofboldness or that type of courage
(09:56):
is something that we have tokeep alive in spite of not
feeling it.
And wow, what a challenge thatis when you're all beaten down
and whatever.
You're facing poverty, you'refacing sickness, you're facing I
(10:16):
face all these things.
So I can tell you withconfidence that I am certainly
not above being completelydevastated by life's events and
I wish I could report thatduring those times I was like
(10:38):
solid as rock, like I was justkicked back, cool and relaxed.
Hey, god's got it.
Pass the crevasse yeah, youknow what I mean.
Let's just have a good time.
No, past the crevasse, you knowwhat I mean.
Let's just have a good time.
No, many of those times I wasreally just encased like in a
panic and really just paralyzedby all of my imaginations and
(11:06):
all of the catastrophes that Icould see on spool and my mind's
eye.
What does boldness look like inthose circumstances when you
don't feel bold at all?
Oftentimes, I find boldness issimply putting one foot in front
(11:27):
of the other.
It's infrequently this dramaticrollercoaster storyline where
something happens to the maincharacter and then they somehow
muster up more courage than anyof us have and they defeat their
enemy or the monster.
We can be so captivated by thatversion of boldness that we
(11:54):
really lose touch with the morereasonable, the more attainable
but not at all sexy version ofboldness, which is simply
putting one foot in front of theother every day, not having any
(12:14):
clear answer, not knowing whereyou're going, not knowing in
which direction even you shouldbe heading.
You're just literally gettingup and trying to survive the day
and all of us, at various timesin our lives, are broken down
(12:35):
into that mode just survival.
How do I get through today?
I can't even consider tomorrow,or a month from now, or a year
from now, or what's going tohappen if God doesn't come
through with an improvement inmy health.
You know how I'm going to pay abill, how I'm going to salvage
(12:58):
a marriage.
There's just so much that's justbecome so overwhelming that,
honestly, when I meet peoplethat profess to have that type
of just unshakable confidence inwhatever themselves or God, I'm
very suspicious of that.
Just because, as just the humanorganism, we know that we have
(13:25):
involuntary reactions todifferent challenges and threats
, and I think most of us knowthat courage is what you do in
spite of that fear.
It's not what you do in theabsence of fear.
It takes no courage to act inthe absence of fear.
It takes no courage to act inthe absence of fear.
(13:49):
Courage and boldness arerequired when fear is at its
height, when false evidenceappearing real, when we're
looking around and seeingdisaster that doesn't feel
secure at all, just practicallyspeaking, because one of the
(14:12):
things that I believe manyChristians could benefit from is
more practical Christian advice.
And what do I mean by that?
I just mean when you have areal problem and you go to
somebody for help, usually youdon't want something just lofty
(14:35):
and theoretical and hypotheticaland theological.
That's not what you're lookingfor.
You actually need to dosomething about this.
For you actually need to dosomething about this.
In my walk and the churchesI've been have, I just found
(14:58):
that's wanting.
And that could be just me, itcould very well also be you.
Why can't we get someinstructions, man?
They're like yes, the Bible hasinstructions and I understand
the idea of living by the Bibleand things, but the Bible
doesn't always make clear wherethe rubber hits the road on
something very specific, likeliterally, what am I supposed to
do right now?
What do I do about this?
(15:20):
Now?
Sometimes the missing componentis that we're not really
supposed to do anything or wereally can't do anything, like
we're really dependent upon godto bring something to pass, like
it's truly outside of our hands.
But even so, as human beings,even if we're waiting for that
(15:46):
to take place, we still need away to conduct ourselves.
In the meantime, we need a wayto not fall to pieces or become
self-destructive.
And oftentimes thatpracticality isn't passed on.
That instruction book For me.
(16:10):
Oftentimes I want somebody totell me directly what to do.
If I'm asking for help insomething like that's what I'm
asking, you know, I'm hopingthat they're going to give me
something really solid that Ican work with.
So, in this matter of boldness.
(16:31):
People say how do I act bold?
There are some things thatoften come to mind that are
external.
Sometimes, if you're a churchor you're around believers or
whatever, there'll be peoplethat are acting or speaking in
boldness.
Right, they're claiming things,they're rebuking things, like
(16:52):
they're just they're gettingfired up.
They're just really popping offwith all the right quotes and
verses and they're all in.
And that can be great.
That can really pump you up andrestore you when your battery's
really low, from getting beatdown.
So I'm all for that.
But I think it would bedisingenuous to actually go out
(17:16):
and teach people like, oh,that's what boldness looks like,
that's what weness looks like,that's what we expect from you
when you're under some type oftrial.
Just speaking for myself, Iinfrequently have that type of
boldness.
It depends on the severity ofwhat's going on.
(17:37):
If it's not too much for me tobear, then yeah, I can be bolder
and pronounce more and claimmore.
But there are times when I'mjust like completely wiped out,
like I just think it's all over,like any, anything, whatever my
life or anything that could begood, or my career, my
(18:00):
relationships, and when you'rein that state for me, you're not
going to see me walking aroundtalking about praise the Lord
and thank you, jesus, foreverything that's going on.
That's not going to be whereI'm at and not that I wouldn't
like to be, but I would onlylike to be if it's in some
(18:21):
authentic way.
I don't want it to be a matterof acting and just as human
beings because we care aboutwhat other people think and
because we care about the waypeople perceive us we can be
pressured in all kinds of waysto put on different types of
acts, and one such act is likethe unshakable believer.
(18:46):
If they're really feeling thatand that's authentic, then
that's fantastic.
I want some of that.
But I also know that a lot oftimes, people that are coming
across like that they're justsaying what they think you want
to hear, or they're saying whatthe pastor talked about that day
(19:11):
and they're just riffing andimprovising on that.
And what I'd like to do todayon Guilt-Free Faith is just
offer up an alternative, analternative that is quiet, an
(19:32):
alternative that is modest, thatreally is not bringing any
glory to my name or setting measide as particularly holy or
powerful, or I have God's ear,watch me just speak everything
(19:54):
into being offered, which isjust the practical quiet of
boldness under pressure, whichmay not look like or feel like
anything.
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