Do you ever find yourself wishing you had the courage to say what you really mean; instead of toning down what you mean; saying what you think deep in your heart, without censoring or sanitizing it to make it more palatable for people?

Did you ever think about your last words just before you die?  What do you consider to be the most important words in which to use your final breath in this earthly life? 

The Letter of 2 Timothy has often been thought of as Paul’s letter from death row. These were Paul’s final thoughts from his Roman prison to his beloved pupil Timothy.

“Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.  But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, 'The Lord knows those who are His,' and, 'Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.'  Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.  Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.  The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:14-26

Christians often spend much time in opposition over which words would best describe a situation or circumstance when we are in complete agreement over what the situation or circumstance is.  As fellow believers, we need to be careful that we don’t spend more time pondering how we say something to the detriment of what we are trying to say.

When people look at us, do they see Jesus in what we say, how we act, in the courage we display when faced with persecution and difficulty?  One of the signs of Christ in our lives is gutsy boldness.  It means being people who say what we mean and mean what we say.  It means our "yes" means yes and our "no" means no.  It means people will know their honest questions will get honest answers.  It means speaking the truth boldly because we have nothing to gain and everything to lose by toning it down and making it easier to swallow.

Our society promotes tolerance, which is simply a code word for blanket acceptance of the behavior of sinful people.  It has left us with a church that no longer has the courage to speak the truth to the world.  God’s people are often better observed by the world as being weak.  I am not advocating that we all become mean, because that isn't Christian boldness at all.  But I am advocating that we embrace and make every attempt to embody the boldness that belongs to us in Christ.

The world around has expectations of how a Christian is supposed to act or look.  I have always been amused at how knowledgeable pagans are regarding Christian behavior.  They have an array of preconceived notions over what type of activities a Christian should engage. The world is especially offended when Christians offer Biblical opinions on moral issues. 

We need to be careful that we don't spend more time pondering how we say something to the detriment of what we are trying to say.  We read in verse 14 "
"Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers." 

When we look at this Scripture, we see the word REMIND.  Paul is telling Timothy of the need to refresh the minds of others on things they have been told before.  They are not to argue over the best way to say something; instead, they should concentrate their combined efforts so that it gets said. 

What do you suppose would have happened in school if, while you were being taught mathematics, you had two teachers at the same time, and one taught two and two were four and the other taught two plus two equaled four?  The answer was the same, but one said "and" and the other insisted that the proper word was "plus." How important do you think the answer would become to us when there was such a struggle over the wording?

Some become so concerned over people’s reaction to wording that they have lost sight of the principle that God wants them to understand!  Isn’t the principle far more important?  Political correctness has silenced the church, which is the primary goal of a liberal society.  

We are to speak the truth with boldness because we love everybody and they, like us, deserve to know the truth.  This doesn't give us an excuse to abuse people with our words or to make them feel judged.  If the words we speak boldly are true and if our motive is genuine love, and people are genially searching for truth, the result will be authentic transformation.

Loving Jesus and loving people with this kind of boldness is going to make you dangerous.  You certainly won't get a reputation for being a soothsayer. People probably won't come to you as often looking for an easy word because they know you'll give them the truth.  Being a disciple of Christ isn't a safe thing. Every disciple had a razor sharp edge to them; not because they were harsh and unloving, but because they spoke the truth to their society of what they knew to be true. 

That truth was empowered by Holy Spirit boldness.
John Wesley said, "Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven upon the Earth."

When our boldness is in Christ it is founded in an unshakable truth giving substance to our faith.

Bible characters exhibited great courage in their Walk with God.  There were people like Elijah, Daniel, three Hebrew men in the king's furnace recorded in the Old Testament.  Then there were Peter, John, and Paul in the New Testament.  Moses sent the twelve Spies into the land of Canaan on a recon mission.  Forty days later, when they returned, ten of the spies gave what God called an "Evil Report."  The ten were afraid; they said the people there are too strong.  They are giants, and the spies were as grasshoppers in their sight.  Joshua and Caleb said, "Let’s go up at once and possess the land, for we are well able to overcome it."

We face many giants we face today and unless Jesus is the substance, and the stuff of our boldness, it will be elbows and heels all the way to the nearest hiding spot.  But when Jesus is the substance of our boldness, there isn't a giant out there who can scare us off.  And who knows, maybe we'll win some giants to the Lord in the process.

We continue on in verse 15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."  Are we proud enough of our Savior to speak up or are we ashamed and silent?  How confident are we when we are about to proclaim God’s Holy Word when the Scripture we are about to proclaim goes against popular opinion?  Do we tell it like it is or do we tell it like they would like to hear it?  Or, even worse, do we ignore that particular subject altogether?  Are we prepared to offend some for the good of those who would hear and adhere to the Gospel?

Paul goes on with verse 16 "But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness."  Just what is considered worldly and empty chatter?  In the context of Paul's letter, it refers to the teachings of the false prophets or the teaching of anything that isn't of God. 

In some "liberal" churches, the morning message, which might last all of ten minutes, is more of a book report than a message from the Word of God.  In other churches where scripture is actually quoted, the selection is sometimes limited to verses that portray only the love of Jesus.

Paul lists some examples of those that have taught contrary to the Word of God.  He states, in verse 18, "men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some." 

How many people teach contrary to the Word of God?  In this particular reference, Paul is telling Timothy of these who explained the resurrection incorrectly. They preached, as some do in our own times, that the resurrection which Christ teaches is only a moral resurrection, a resurrection of the soul to a better life. This error was taught also in Corinth.

There are many whose teachings mislead and yet there is included enough truth to draw people in. It doesn't matter how much truth is included, any amount of falsehood makes the teachings false.  This is perhaps what Paul meant by instructing Timothy about accurately handling the word of truth.

Paul wanted to be sure that Timothy knew the importance that God's Word be communicated accurately and completely.  We are to say what it says; no more and no less.  As a result it only stands to reason that we live out what we proclaim.  We know the advantages of leading by example; what better way to encourage Christian behavior in others than to demonstrate the possibility that that manner of living is possible.

Paul relayed to Timothy, and to us as well, the need for complete and accurate teaching of God's Word and the need to live what we profess; or in other words, we are to walk the walk if we talk the talk.  If we wear a What Would Jesus Do bracelet, our behavior better reflect that we believe it.

As did early Christians, we also need to be careful that we don't spend more time pondering how we say something to the detriment of what we are trying to say. 

There is a challenge to each and every one of us:  in order to accurately and completely relay God's message to others, we need to have studied His message.

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." II Timothy 1:7-12 (NKJV)

Courage, it would seem, came no easier to earlier followers of Christ than it does to us.  Peter and John showed great boldness before the Sanhedrin, but to maintain their courage they were absolutely dependent upon the Holy Spirit for their gift of boldness.  They needed it, and we need it today!

May our Lord and Savior find us faithful to His word and represent Him with unashamed boldness.