{"id":3130,"date":"2011-05-03T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-05-03T09:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/?p=3130"},"modified":"2011-05-04T15:12:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-04T23:12:19","slug":"be-bold-not-proud-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/2011\/05\/03\/be-bold-not-proud-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Bold, Not Proud!"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Pastor Patrick Cho<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This post was originally posted on April 13, 2006 on the Shine the Light! blog. \u00a0We have since incorporated all that content into the Beacon, and you can even find the original version of this post here<\/a>. \u00a0Pastor Patrick has kindly agreed to help take you on a bit of a tour of some of those articles, in the hope that you will be encouraged to explore that content yourself. \u00a0Enjoy!<\/em><\/p>\n

One issue that I have been intending to address on this blog is something that has caused some unfortunate confusion and misunderstanding in the church. Being a graduate of The Master\u2019s Seminary, I understand that there is a perception (and sadly sometimes warranted) that \u201cMaster\u2019s guys\u201d have a knack for preaching cold, rigid theology in a domineering, blunt, and even arrogant way. John alluded to this in his previous entry that there is a certain unavoidable stigma that comes with being a TMS alumnus. I am, therefore, thankful that John elaborated on Lighthouse\u2019s commitment to preach the truth of God in love. Paul refers to speaking truth in love in 1 Timothy 1:5 where he writes, \u201cBut the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.\u201d The relationship of love and truth is also the theme of much of the epistles of John. John writes, \u201cGrace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love\u201d (2 John 3).<\/p>\n

Truth taught without the temperance of love is cold, impersonal, and oftentimes unnecessarily offensive. Love without the standard and foundation of truth is misguided, shallow, and oftentimes misleading. In order to love in a godly way, one must know and be committed to the truth about love as it is revealed in the Word of God. In order to preach the truth in a godly way, one must also understand and sincerely work to apply God\u2019s heart of love.<\/p>\n

I suppose the issue that arises from this discussion is where conviction plays a role in our communication of beliefs. Unfortunately, when one speaks out of conviction it is frequently misunderstood as bold arrogance. However, in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, Paul states, \u201c…we had the boldness in our God to speak to you…\u201d While Paul characterizes his instruction as boldness, his life was at the same time indisputably characterized by humility (cf. 2 Cor 12:11). If we take a closer look at what is intended in 1 Thessalonians 2, it helps to provide a greater understanding of how one can be bold in proclamation and yet remain humble. While it is unfortunate that conviction and boldness are misinterpreted as arrogance, it is equally or even more unfortunate that some with good reason to have conviction cannot communicate their convictions with \u201chumble boldness.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can Paul say that he and his partners in ministry had boldness to speak? First, he understood that the authority behind what he communicated was not found in himself but in God. I have often thought that one of the keys to true humility is giving credit to the right people and not undeservedly taking credit for oneself. Notice that Paul qualifies his boldness by saying that it is \u201cin our God.\u201d Outside of the revealed truth of God, Paul had no grounds for speaking with boldness. Isn\u2019t<\/span> it true that when we speak with boldness without first being quick to hear the Word and fully contemplating what the Bible says about a matter we discover that our bold assertions are actually foolishness? Paul\u2019s only claim to boldness came in God (cf. 2 Cor 10:17). Only by thinking God\u2019s thoughts after Him and speaking God\u2019s words could he speak with boldness. This actually says less about the character of Paul than it does the character of Paul\u2019s God. He understood that without God he was reduced to nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Second, and this is certainly related, Paul understood that the source of the message itself was from God. The instruction that Paul bore was \u201cthe gospel of God\u201d (1 Thess 2:2). It is God\u2019s gospel. This is the reason Paul states, \u201cFor we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus\u2019 sake\u201d (2 Cor 4:5). To be committed to anything else than preaching the true gospel of Christ is futility and focusing on peripherals at best. This is the same instruction that Paul gave to Timothy, \u201cPreach the Word!\u201d (2 Tim 4:2). Don\u2019t preach useless words (2 Tim 2:14)! Don\u2019t preach worldly and empty chatter (2 Tim 2:16)! Don\u2019t preach useless speculation (2 Tim 2:23)! Don\u2019t preach deceptive messages (2 Tim 3:13)! Don\u2019t preach ear tickling stories (2 Tim 4:3)! Don\u2019t preach according to the desires of men (2 Tim 4:3)! Don\u2019t preach myths (2 Tim 4:4)! Preach the unadulterated gospel of God!<\/p>\n

It is possible to speak conviction with boldness and yet to maintain a spirit of humility. Of course much of this is dependent upon whether the one who speaks backs his words with a lifestyle of humility. In any case, one must not be too quick to judge someone as arrogant because he speaks with confidence or boldness. Of course even when something is spoken properly from proper motives and with proper means, one\u2019s message still may not be received the way it was truly intended. This places even more responsibility upon the one who speaks with conviction to make sure that truth is indeed spoken and colored with godly love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Pastor Patrick Cho Editor’s Note: This post was originally posted on April 13, 2006 on the Shine the Light! blog. \u00a0We have since incorporated all that content into the Beacon, and you can even find the original version of this post here. \u00a0Pastor Patrick has kindly agreed to help take you on a bit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastors-corner"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3130"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3132,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions\/3132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lighthousebc.com\/beacon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}