Living Fearless

Why don't we live fearless lives? I am not speaking against having a healthy fear like the fear of God. I mean the gripping, horrible, crippling fear that we allow to seep into our lives every day that keeps us from doing what the Lord asks of us.

We are scared of what others think. We say we live in the world and yet are not of it. We are lying to ourselves! We are of the world. We let it trample us, to be honest. We cower down at the slightest hint of embarrassment and allow others with their warped values to walk all over us. We don't want to stand up to it for fear that it will ruin our reputation, make us look like lunatics, cause others to hate and malign us, or push non-believers away. Was Jesus afraid of these things? Was He not accused of being a lunatic? Was he not hated and slandered and his reputation sabotaged? Did His words not cause people to turn away? The answers to these questions bring conviction. Have I been afraid? Yes. Have I been accused of being a lunatic, been hated and shunned, or had my reputation ruined? No. Why? Because I haven't declared the mystery of the gospel boldly as I ought to speak. I should be praying for words to be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the gospel (Ephesians 6:19).

It doesn't matter what my life looks like on the outside. It doesn't matter if people think I serve the Lord with all I have. All that matters is what is in my heart and what is truly going on, because God sees that and is not fooled. Why, then, do I not follow through with the promptings of the Holy Spirit? Why do I give in to the embarrassment of possibly looking silly for doing what He's asking? When we ignore the Holy Spirit's promptings, we are committing sins of omission. We know what we should do, and yet do not do it. How many times have I ignored Him when He's prodding at my heart to take action? How many times have you ignored His leading? What are our reasons for this? We should live as if we have nothing to lose. And yet we live with attachment to so many worldly things, possessions and reputation, that we live as if avoiding the loss of those things is more important than gaining a brother or sister in Christ. When we put our confidence in the flesh, we are sure to fear the loss of it. But we are called to worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, putting no confidence in the flesh though we might have reason to by our accomplishments (Philippians 3:3-4). Paul says, "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him" (Philippians 3:7-9). Paul suffered the loss of all things and he saw change. We must ask ourselves why we have not suffered the loss of all things.

Our goal is not to find life, but to lose it (Matthew 16:25). We are so concentrated on finding life, that we are losing out on what it is to have true Life. If we would count all other things as already lost, then we wouldn't be worried about losing them. We would be a fearless people, living fearless lives, fearlessly proclaiming the gospel, no longer worried over our reputations. Oh, that we would cry out to the Lord and ask Him to help us overcome our embarrassment! Living a fearless life does not mean that fear is not a reality, but that we press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, despite our flesh's protests. Only the Holy Spirit in us can give us the courage to proclaim Jesus' name regardless of the consequences, but we must listen and follow through. It is my prayer that we would seek this with all that we are. That we would become a fearless people, living fearless lives, making a difference. America is at a stand still because we are not proclaiming Christ's name everywhere we go. It's scary to think about carrying out what God is asking of me and I even shudder to think of what it means that I have to do. But it is not in my own strength that I do it. "For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me" (Colossians 1:29). The power of the Holy Spirit is in us. We have only to take hold of it, to call out to the Lord, and to run with it in full faith that He will follow through and answer our prayers for boldness.