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The Book of Revelation depicts the grand finale of human history. The last thing that will happen before our Savior establishes His kingdom on earth is the final judgment, where we will all be held accountable for how we have lived our lives. After that, heavenly existence enters, with the wonderful promise from the Lord Himself: “He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son” (Rev. 21:7).
But there is also something very encouraging in the Bible texts regarding this. To “overcome” is not just about having faith deep in your heart. As crucial as faith in the heart is, it is meant to go hand in hand with confession in the mouth: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Jesus is actually even more pointed when he speaks about this. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” he says. “But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33). And in another place: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).
Throughout the Bible, one could say, there is a call for God’s people to be bold. “Do not throw away your boldness, which has great reward,” says Hebrews 10:35. It is therefore telling that when Revelation lists those who will not be part of God’s heavenly fellowship, the first ones mentioned are not murderers or idolaters or occultists—although they are also on the list. Instead, they are “the cowards” (see Rev. 21:8). Those who have not stood up for Jesus and his word.
The call to boldness rests especially heavily on Christian leadership. “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we will receive a stricter judgment,” writes Jesus’ brother James (James 3:1). And in the epistle of the Book of Revelation, Jesus repeatedly points out what the churches and their leadership tolerate. So it is not just the ungodly actions of God’s people that are condemned, but their unwillingness to act against groups and individuals who are misleading the church (see Revelation 2:14–16, 20). In other words: It is the fear of man and cowardice of believers that Jesus addresses.
In Acts 15, we read how the apostle Peter goes against the people to defend Paul and Barnabas in their controversial work among the Gentiles.
One possible background to Peter’s courage is that Paul had previously publicly confronted him when he acted submissively and cowardly in relation to his Jewish Christian brothers in Antioch (see Gal. 2:11–14). Paul’s courage in relation to Peter thus contributed to Peter’s daring to go against the stream a few years later at the apostolic council in Jerusalem.
These are lessons that we in Swedish Christianity and elsewhere need to take very seriously. More than many other countries, we are characterized by a culture of consensus. We do not like to go against the grain, and even in the congregations we are plagued by the curse of the law of janten (don’t think you are more special than others). The basic reflex is to keep our heads down, not to stand out, not to be too … bold.
At the same time, in retrospect, we can see that Christianity’s best moments have been when we have had the courage to go against our cultural norm of caution. When we have boldly stood up for Jesus and his words. When we have broken with fear and timidity. When, like Paul and (later) Peter, we have been clear in our confession, even in the face of pressure from our surroundings.
Let us therefore, in the light of the Bible’s exhortations, come to terms with our own cowardice. Let us stand up for all of God’s counsel. And let us spur each other on to a culture of true, norm-breaking boldness in our congregations!
