Acts 19:8
New International Version
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
I had a problem when I was in the car business. I could only remember a customer’s name if I saw the car they were driving. Once I saw a guy in a Wal-Mart, but couldn’t remember his name. I literally had to stalk him out of the store to his car. Once I saw his car, ding, and I said, ‘Hey Joe, how have you been? How’s your wife Marsha and your little boy Tommy?’ I went to a memory course, to learn how to remember names. I learned that this technique that I used (associating the car with the name of the customer) was called a “See Peg.”
A ‘see peg’ was a way to visualize a word. The way we created See Peg is basically I believe the way a lot of nicknames come up. When I was young my buddies had nicknames like STUBBY Bissel, HEY Yu, NO TOES Rose, and UG Lee. You picked the outstanding characteristic of the person, made it into a mental cartoon, and thename stuck. Since then, I still haven’t learned to remember names (nicknames, yes; names no). But the See Pegs still amuse me. I use See Peg’s subconsciously for normal words that I use a lot. Bold is one of them.
The word bold has a See Peg in my mind. It’s a big guy, opinionated, angry and loud. An ‘IN YOUR FACE ‘ type. Many times in the past, when I read the word bold in the Bible, I thought it was telling me to be aggressive and offensive. But it never set right with me. It seems like others have the same image of the word bold too.
The definition of bold is not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuke.
I once saw several evangelical pastors praying loudly over a little old lady in themarket. The more they yelled, the more she quietly said, ‘but I am a Catholic.’ By definition, the little old Catholic lady was the bold one.
Boldness is not about being loud.
Boldness is not being mean.
Boldness is not being careless.
Boldness is when someone you respect says, ‘you’re not one of those Jesus freaks are you?’ And you say ‘yes’.
Boldness is knowing that you and the Lord can not be outnumbered.
Boldness is knowing that the Lord is on your side.
If you are bold you don’t have to yell, you can whisper.
If you are bold, you will do things that scare you, if you know that the Lord wants you to do them.
True boldness requires faith.
Noisiness, meanness, carelessness is lack of faith.
Boldly proclaiming the Lord isn’t about yelling with a mean snarl on your face. I heard a pastor say, ‘If you are a Christian, you better let your face know about it.’ It’s about saying no to sin when it isn’t convenient to say no because of peer pressure. It means losing a job, or not getting a promotion for righteousness sake. Proclaiming Jesus boldly most times is a quiet adjective. Boldness is being nice to people that your peers may consider ‘unclean’. Boldness is not listening to gossip, nor encouraging it.
Boldness is forgiving. Boldness is being pure (by definition, not holding onto infections,such as bitterness).
Boldness is nobility.
Paul spoke boldly, because it was dangerous in those days to do what he was doing, but he continued to do it out of love for the Lord. He was in fact eventually killed for his boldness in Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 4:16
New Living Translation
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Dean