Ephesians 6:19-20

"and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." ~ Ephesians 6:19-20

God has truly blessed me over the last two months by allowing me to speak at a number of churches and youth groups. It is always difficult for me to speak at a church that I am not familiar with. So many times I wrestle with, "What does God want me to say?" It is very easy for me to tell a number of stories and share encouraging moments from my life with a little bit of God's Word sprinkled in. At the beginning of August I read those two verses from Ephesians 6 and I came away very challenged by Paul's words.

Here's a man who is in prison and is facing many difficulties. He could likewise take the route that I have been tempted to do. Take the easy route...use existential stories to encourage...offer little challenge to the audience. Yet, Paul asked the Ephesians for both the ability to speak God's Word and the boldness to proclaim it without fear, doubt, or partiality. Martin Luther speaks in a similar tone:

"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ however boldly I may be professing Christ."

I came away very challenged to be a teacher who is biblical grounded, at times encouraging, but one who is not afraid to challenge myself and others with the Bible. The boldness that Paul prays for is the same I find myself constantly praying for. Being passive in teaching God's Word can come in a number of avenues. Fear of "going too deep", fear of being boring, or even the fear of preaching something that convicts not only the audience but the speaker. To teach from conviction is not hypocrisy but reality. Peter taught of faith and his faith wavered in the garden. Paul teaches of unity in the body but argued with Barnabas, could not reconcile, and the two went their separate ways. These teachings are not nullified because of such, but something that is better understood after the fact because of the conviction of one's shortcomings through the Holy Spirit.

Its interesting to note so many youth groups and churches pride themselves on being Biblically based. Even my seminary's core verse is 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness". Its a remarkable verse that the modern youth group can leave two gaping holes in. We like to teach and train in righteousness. Yet we doubt, waver on, and even ignore Scripture that is critical or that corrects specific issues and sins within the body of Christ. We do not truly believe in the profitability of Scripture unless we use it for all these things: teaching, training, critical analysis, and correcting lacking traits. My prayer is that I and other teachers and ministers boldly (yet humbly) teach God's Word in spite of our fears of reprisal or inadequacy. The Gospel is an offense. Why should we expect otherwise?