While our culture shamelessly promotes wicked lifestyles, believers sit idly by convinced that there is nothing a small minority can change, that their efforts would be inconsequential, that nobody today would listen to the gospel.
These ideas, however, are contrary to the examples we see in Scripture. Throughout God’s Word—from the Old Testament to the New Testament—God has shown us He delights in blessing, not necessarily large crowds or organized groups, but the few who courageously depend on Him and take steps of faith for Him.
Judges 7 tells the story of Gideon and his mighty men. Although victory was not humanly possible for Gideon and the army of 32,000 that he first assembled, the Lord told him, “The people are yet too many.” God further decreased the number to the 300 who were willing to courageously obey the Lord’s instruction.
The story of David and Goliath is similar. While the Israelites watched in dismay as Goliath blasphemed the Lord, they focused on their inability to defeat him. Though considered the least in the eyes of men, young David relied on the “LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” to give him victory. God used one teenage shepherd to bring deliverance for an entire nation.
The early church in Jerusalem began with just a small group in the midst of unbelieving Jews who had brutally put Christ to death. But they depended on the Holy Spirit to boldly proclaim the gospel on the day of Pentecost, and three thousand people were added to the church.
We know these stories. We have read over and over how God’s power is greater than man’s obstacles and how He can enable people to see impossible feats of faith accomplished for His glory. Yet we somehow assume that our circumstances, our culture, our moment in history is the exception.
Modern Christians in the western world are content to simply be comfortable. Even the idea of speaking up for Christ or carrying gospel tracts brings fear. Too many are content to simply wait out their lifetime or hope for the Lord’s return, with no compelling motivation to make a difference for Christ in the midst of the darkness.
We need courage. We need Spirit-filled, Scripture-informed, God-directed courage to punch holes in the darkness. Our world does not need comfortable Christians; it needs men and women to rise up and believe that God will use them to do great and mighty things for Him.
How do we do it? We could look to any number of stories in Scripture for a pattern. But in Joshua chapter 1, we meet a leader who stood on the brink of a tremendous opportunity right after having received a staggering responsibility. Moses—the great leader of Israel—had just died. Joshua and the nation were on the banks of the Jordan River—with battles ahead to conquer the Promised Land. Joshua was the new leader, and it would be his responsibility to lead these people forward into victory.
God gave Joshua the specific admonition to “be strong and of a good courage” four times in this single chapter (verses 6, 9, 18 and similar in verse 7). And throughout the chapter, God gave Joshua four specific instructions for living a life of courage.
1. Trust God’s Promises
God makes over eight thousand promises throughout Scripture. He promises to equip, empower, encourage, and enable us. But too often, we don’t seize and use these promises.
In Joshua 1, God promised Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast” (verses 3–4).
In Genesis 13:15, God had told Abraham that He would give the Israelites “all the land which thou seest.” But the Israelites only ever claimed about ten percent of the land that God was willing to give them. How typical is that of Christians who recognize the promises that God has given but never actually take the initiative to claim them!
One of the promises that too few Christians claim is the power of God as we witness. In Matthew 28:18–20 Jesus commanded and promised, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
Yet, in spite of this command and promise, we far too often set comfortable—not courageous—goals for sharing the gospel and discipling new Christians. We carry on week after week, month after month, year after year with the same little amounts of spiritual exertion, comforting ourselves with the thought, “Well, at least I’m being faithful.”
But what do you think might happen if we took God at His word to be with us as we witness and planned audacious, faith-stretching goals for outreach? When was the last time that you personally planned a specific and measurable goal for soulwinning? (Perhaps your goal would be the number of times in a week or month you would share the gospel with someone in a one-on-one setting. Perhaps your goal would be a number of gospel tracts you would give out daily or weekly.) If you’re a pastor, when was the last time you planned a specific and measurable goal for your church’s outreach? (Perhaps you would knock on every door in your city or section of your community with the gospel annually. Perhaps you would aim for a certain number of guests at particular outreach events. Or perhaps you would plan several different types of outreach events within a calendar year.)
Comfortable Christianity is content to set few or easily-obtainable goals. But courageous Christianity reaches out in a way that must depend on God’s presence and power for success. As A. W. Tozer said, “God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only those things we can do ourselves.”
2. Live in God’s Presence
God’s promises hinge on His power and presence. So when God told Joshua that He would give Joshua the land, He further assured him, “as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (verse 5).
Without the presence of God in our lives, “courage” would be mere self-confidence. But when we live in an awareness of and dependence on God’s presence, we will be filled with courage.
We are not promised a simple journey through the Christian life. Rather, in John 16:33, Jesus promised, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” But then He continued, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Why are we afraid to talk about Jesus? Why do we feel like there is no hope for our city? Could it be that our fear has blinded us to the fact that God is with us? And that His presence is enough?
Yes, our culture is antagonistic toward the gospel. Yes, America is quickly becoming pagan and less tolerant of those who intend to live out their faith in Christ in the public sphere.
But God has not asked us to take a stand for Him alone. He has not asked us to spread the gospel alone. He will always be with us as we step out in courageous faith for Him. Rather than living with trepidation, may we embrace the Lord’s calling and
believe like
Moses, “The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee” (Deuteronomy 31:3).
The presence of God gives us spiritual protection. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4). God promises us a sure victory when we rely on his strength and protection.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once observed, “Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”
Humanly-speaking, Joshua had reason to fear as the nation of Israel stood on the brink of the Jordan River and the battles they would face to claim the Promised Land. But Joshua also had the direct assurance of God’s presence and a purpose greater than his fear.
You and I have a greater purpose as well. We have the very command of Christ, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
And Romans 8:31 further reasons, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). God is for us. He is with us. And He will be victorious through us.
3. Obey God’s Commands
We live in a culture that disregards God’s commands. Legislators in many states are pushing wicked agendas. Christians are being criticized—and sometimes canceled—for what they believe. Children are being indoctrinated to question their gender.
Most Bible-believing Christians want nothing to do with these trends. But even if we are not scorning God’s commands, are we embracing them?
God tied obedience and courage together in Joshua 1:7: “Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.”
Are we courageously obeying God’s commands—even when they are unpopular? Or are we finding ways to compromise on them? Sadly, churches across America today are compromising on some of the clearest commands in Scripture.
Just this past December, the pastor of Vinnings Lake Church near Atlanta, Georgia, addressed the congregation with these words: “We’re an ever-evolving spiritual collective. If you’re a Christian, wonderful. If you’re post-Christian, wonderful. We prefer questions over answers and have no intention of converting anybody to anything. Here, LGBTQ inclusion is not up for debate, people of all faiths and no faiths are welcome, and Jesus can be a savior, a radical rabbi or a metaphor, depending on your spiritual inclination.”
But it’s not just churches like Vinnings Lake (which doesn’t even pretend to call people to salvation) that compromise. A Southern Baptist Church, First Baptist Orlando, made a similar statement. In prepared comments, the senior associate pastor of First Baptist Orlando read a list of the variety of people attending and serving in the church: “We have transgender, LGBTQ, straight, single, married, divorced, and cohabitating people. These same people attend, listen, serve, grow, and give.” Not only does First Baptist Orlando allow people living in open sexual sin to be members in good standing, it also allows these members to baptize new converts. Social media posts from last year show Joe Mills, an openly gay man who is currently “married” to another man, performing baptisms at First Baptist Church Orlando.
Let’s face it, in a culture that is actively rejecting God and any biblical authority on moral issues, Christians and churches need courage to obey God’s instructions. But we simply cannot bend the clear commands of Scripture to make ourselves more comfortable in a broken culture. “Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left.”
4. Meditate on God’s Word
How will we remember God’s promises, live in His presence, and hold fast to His commands? We will do it the same way Joshua would—through biblical meditation: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (verse 8).
Meditation is commonly used today to refer to a practice of emptying one’s mind. But the biblical meaning of meditation is to focus our minds. This means that when God instructed Joshua to meditate in Scripture day and night, He was telling Joshua that His Word was never to be out of his mind. Joshua was to meditate on these things so he could obey them as opportunity called him to.
Colossians 3:16 repeats this instruction in different words: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Meditating on God’s Word infuses our souls with truth. It makes the power of Scripture accessible to us all day long. George Müller once stated, “The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.”
One of the great drains on our courage is our schedules. If we live at a faster pace than we have time to take in Scripture, to think on it, to let it seep into our minds like tea in hot water, then we are living too fast.
How can we expect to “be strong and of a good courage” if we neglect the very food of courage—the Word of God? If our minds are not filled with Scripture, they will be filled. But they will be filled with thoughts of self or fear or some other futile substitute for the living and powerful Word of God. This will not do. We must, like Mary of Bethany, make time to sit at the feet of Jesus and receive His words. And then we must carry them with us everywhere we go in our minds and hearts.
Comfortable or Courageous?
We do not wrestle with flesh and blood. Rather, we serve Christ in the midst of a raging spiritual battle.
The question comes: will we be content to stand on the banks of the Jordan River as long as we can make ourselves comfortable? Or will we claim the promises of God, trust the presence of God, obey the commands of God, and meditate on the Word of God that we might “be strong and very courageous” for the work of God?
- Kathryn Post, “Church for ‘nones’: Anti-dogma spiritual collectives emerge across the U.S.,” The Washington Post, December 21, 2013, https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/12/21/us-religion-nones/.
- “Prominent Southern Baptist Church Brags That Transgenders and Abortionists Serve in Their Church,” YouTube video, 00:37, posted by “The Dissenter,” February 7, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RUhJv1B7vc.
- Open, “Gay-Married” Homosexual Man Baptizes Other People at First Baptist Orlando,” Disntr, March 13, 2023, https://disntr.com/2023/03/13/open-gay-married-homosexual-man-baptizes-other-people-at-first-baptist-orlando/
