Biblical Courage

Part of my efforts to keep the Lord's Day is to engage in profitable reading on theology or church history. Tonight I was reading Wylie's History of Protestantism and read through the account of Luther before the Diet of Worms.

Luther was asked to retract his biblical doctrines that ran contrary to Rome and almost every temporal power then in existence. Centuries later, his simple declaration still rings down through the centuries as a profound example of Biblical courage in the face of great adversity:

"I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything contrary to conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. May God help me. Amen."

Last week, my beloved pastor, Greg Price, gave a sermon on Courage at the Burial of Christ
(Scroll down til you find it on the list of sermons.). True biblical courage is not a lack of fear; it is doing what is right in the face of your fear. Heroes are not those who never tremble at adversity. Heroes are those who tremble at the thought of offending God, rather than man. Luther exemplified all this.

I used to think that this type of courage was reserved for martyrs and special people like Luther. God has shown me in recent years that this type of courage is a daily necessity in the life of all Christians. It is too easy to compromise some truth in order to appease a mother or father, a child or a spouse, a co-worker or your boss a friend or some adversary. Taking a principled stand on these things, especially when it can cost you dearly, is not easy. It calls for courage.