Boldness & The End of People-Pleasing
Many of us are controlled by what others think. We post something on social media and return often to see how many “likes” we have. Often, we don’t want others to be offended so we shrink back from saying something that needs to be said. Or we don’t want be left out so we give in to peer pressure. Perhaps we tell white lies to make ourselves look better. For many of us, we are easily crushed by the criticism of others. Or we over-commit because we can’t tell people no. For the church, in the face of a world that thinks we are too judgmental or narrow-minded, we are tempted to compromise and soften parts of our message. The majority of professing Christians do not share their faith because we fear rejection. In a word, we often lack boldness. Acts 4 shows us what boldness is, why we often lack boldness and how we can grow in it.