What does courage mean and what does it look like when put into practice? According to the Webster Dictionary, courage means, “the Quality of being brave; valor.” So then, what does courage look like? It could look like people volunteering to make sure congregants are safe while they worship; or paramedics who rush to the scene of an accident not knowing if it will be someone they know; or it could look like a 5 year old child diagnosed with cancer and battling chemo but keeps hoping that tomorrow will be better; or it could look like the person who gets daily death threats but continues to go out proclaiming the love of Jesus to thousands anyway. Courage is speaking truth.

I had never had the privilege of meeting Charlie Kirk, but I felt I knew him through watching his show, clips of
his campus rallies, and some of the numerous interviews he did. I truly admired his courage and what happened
to him on September 10th affected me more than I thought it would. His assassination has lit a fire in me as I
hope it did in all of you. Charlies’s definition of courage was, “Doing the right thing when you don’t know how
it’s going to work out. Courage is committing yourself to the correct course of action regardless of the cost
associated to it.” He said in an interview he wanted to be remembered for his courage for his faith. Is what
you believe worth dying for? Charlie did.

How many times have we heard this question, “What has happened to this world?” That’s actually the wrong
question. The question should be, “What has happened to the salt and light?” We, as believers, can no longer stay on the sidelines, or remain spectator Christians. Curtis Bowers said, “For far too long, Christians have been lukewarm, fence-sitters, and ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” At some point, believers have to open their mouths and verbally share the message of Jesus. We need to get busy and grow in our walk with the Lord. We need to maximize this time, this opportunity – let’s not waste it.

Let’s revisit what it means to be salt and light. As salt, we preserve a world that would otherwise be under the
destructive rule of Satan and enslaved to sin. We preserve the world for enough time that God’s purposes
can be worked out. As light, we expose the darkness for what it is – and that’s why the world hates us. We
aren’t preserving or exposing anything by sitting passively in our livingrooms. With what Jesus did for us on
the cross, how can we possible stay quiet. (Is. 52:14; Is. 53).

Several years ago, Jack Hibbs sat down with Dr. ED Hindson and David Hocking for a conversation while
at a convention. Part of their conversation was on how the church is silent. They said Satan is always looking for a void, a vacuum. If Christians aren’t going to stand up and speak about Jesus, then maybe some group, like the Muslims, are going to talk about Jesus. Islam is seizing the moment to get their foot in the door to proclaim their Jesus and their Jesus is not the same as ours. When Jesus said to occupy until He comes, (Luke 19:13), He didn’t say to take a seat. He meant to get out into the world and preach the gospel (Matt. 28:18-20). But, while everyone else is coming out of the closet, the Christians are going into the closet. They’re hiding, just waiting it out until the return of Christ.

Being a Bible believing follower of Jesus Christ will cost you and if it doesn’t, you might be doing something wrong.
In her book, “When Culture Hates You” by Natash Crain, she said, “We here in America have been comfortable.
We don’t have a clue what real Christian persecution is. But, everything is changing now. If we expect comfort to
continue, despite what’s going on around us, we are fooling ourselves.” For some, the death of Charlie Kirk might
just be shaking that “comfortable” out of us. (2Tim.3:12). We need to be continually mindful that we are accountable to God, not man. Someday we will stand before God and answer for the choices we made during our time here
on earth (Rom. 14:10-12).

And, if you think you can’t be used by God, think again. Look at Moses for instance – God uses crooked sticks to
draw straight lines. We all have a calling. It’s your job to find out what that calling is and then do it. Charlie did
great things in great ways. We may not be able to do the things he did, but we can do great things in small ways.
When’s the last time you sent a “thinking of you” card or text message? When’s the last time you called to “checkup” on someone who you haven’t seen or heard from in awhile? Or gone out to lunch with someone to share the
gospel, or let someone know you’re praying for them? That act of kindness that you do for someone may seem insignificant to you, but it may be a big deal to the person receiving it.

So let’s circle back to the word “courage”. Do you have the courage to say, “Here I am Lord, send me”(Is.6:8). Will
we hear the words from our Lord, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Courage is you and me picking up our
torches nd running into the darkness, running to the lost, to proclaim the love of Jesus and what He did for us on
the cross. Courage is doing what’s right and leaving the results to God.

(I encourage you to watch or listen to Matthew West’s song “Do Something”.)