By Matt Olguin
Be audacious.
Wondering what I mean by that? I know personally
I’ve only heard the word as “so and so had the audacity”,
and it is usually said with a negative connotation. To
be audacious means to be “extremely bold or daring;
recklessly brave or unrestrained”. So how do you get a
good connotation? By having a good reason to be
audacious, and I can't think of a better reason than being a
Christian.
In Acts
16:16-40 we have the incredible account of Paul and Silas
being arrested for their faith, beaten, then thrown into
prison only to take the situation as one to praise God and
eventually lead their very own jailer to being saved.
Now that’s bold. But Paul wasn’t just bold. He
was audacious. In vs. 36 when they were released, Paul was
outraged that it was being done secretly while their
punishment was so public. He demanded that the
magistrate that wronged him come and publicly apologize and
escort himself and Silas out of the prison.
I could just picture
Christians still young in their faith saying, “Paul are you
crazy!!! Get out of here while you have a chance.” So
why did Paul take that extra step? Personally, I think
he wanted to make sure everyone knew that being a Christian
was no crime. He used his Roman citizenship to his
advantage and took that next step past bold for Christ’s
sake. It put him face to face with people bigger than
himself. Face to face with a challenge to his faith,
and guess what? He didn’t blink, they did. He
was extremely daring in the name of the Lord. Now
that is audacious.
- Matt Olguin serves as youth minister for the Jackson
Church of Christ in Jackson, MO. He may be contacted
through the congregation's website:
http://www.jacksonchurchofchrist.net
No comments:
Post a Comment