By Grant Gaines
It was just another morning for the high school junior as she got ready for school on April 20, 1999. A quiet time in her Bible and prayer, a quick breakfast, and she was off to school. The day started out like any other day – an ongoing cycle of going to class then talking with friends, going to class then talking with friends….
Unfortunately for Cassie Bernall and the rest of the students at Columbine High School, the sobering sound of gun fire ended this cycle at 11:19 AM as two of their fellow classmates began opening fire on the school. Before having time to run, panic, or even think, the gunmen busted into Cassie’s classroom with cruel intent.
As the distressed teenage boys made their way through the room, one of them spotted Cassie Bernall and, knowing she was a Christian, gave her an opportunity to live. “Do you believe in God?” The stakes of this question were life and death. Deny God, and Cassie Bernall may have lived to tell the story. But Cassie knew that living a life in denial of the Giver of Life was not really life at all. So she said “Yes” with her last breath on earth and in her next breath stood before the God she had just confessed. Now that’s bold faith!…or is it?
Cassie Bernall certainly has bold faith compared to the faith we most often see in the Church today, but as you study the Bible you begin to find an abundance of men and women who had a faith just like that of Cassie Bernall.
Abraham left everything he ever knew to go to a land that God had not yet reviled to him (Genesis 12). That’s boldness!…or is it? Moses stood before the most powerful king on the earth and demanded that he let his entire workforce – the Israelites – go (Exodus 7). That’s boldness!…or is it? A scrawny teenage boy named David trusted in the protection of his God enough that when a 9’6” giant named Goliath challenged him, David didn’t run away in fear, he actually, “…ran quickly to meet him” (1 Samuel 17:48, NIV). That’s boldness!…or is it? Elijah the prophet stood alone before 450 idol worshippers and risked his life to prove that the Lord was (and still is) the only true God. That’s boldness!…or is it? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to be burned in a fiery furnace rather than bowing to anyone other than the God they had served their entire lives (Daniel 3). That’s boldness!…or is it?
We could go on and on with story after story in the Bible of what appears to be an incredibly bold faith. But let me ask you a question, if all you ever see in Scripture is boldness, is that really boldness or is that just the regular faith that a Christ follower should have?
For example, if you were to read the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 and then close your Bible, you would be blown away by David’s boldness (and of course God’s deliverance). But when you read the story of David and Goliath followed by the story of Daniel in the lions’ den (Daniel 6), followed by Peter taking the step of faith out of the boat (Matthew 14), followed by the story of Gideon’s 300 member army destroying the Midianite army which was so big that it was actually, “…impossible to count the [number of] men and their camels…” (Judges 6:5, NIV), followed by the story of…etc., you would no longer be blown away by the leap-off-the-page boldness displayed in the Bible. Rather, you would assume that the faith you read about time after time is not an extraordinary faith, but simply the ordinary faith that the people who belong to God should have.
Do you have this type of boldness? If not, what’s holding you back? Proverbs 28:1 (NIV) says, “…the righteous are as bold as a lion.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV) says that, “…God did not give us a Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” And Romans 8:37 (NIV) tells us that in all things, “…we are more than conquerors through Him [Jesus] who loved us.”
I believe one of the biggest reasons the Church is not as effective today as it was when it was first planted in Acts 2 is because we have the wrong understanding of boldness. Sharing your faith isn’t boldness, it’s a requirement of every follower of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). Being persecuted for your faith isn’t boldness, it’s a guaranteed part of our faith (2 Timothy 3:12). The sooner we understand that a life lived for Christ should by definition be bold, the sooner we, as the Church, will transform the world into the image of God.
Does the story of Cassie Bernall leap off the page as one of incredible faith in our world today? Absolutely. But if you were place her story in the middle of the Bible, her story wouldn’t stand out as much as it would blend in with the likes of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, Esther, Jesus, Peter, Paul, and so on. You see, the Bible isn’t a book made up of stories of incredible, superhuman faith. Rather, the Bible tells stories of an ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill type of faith. What we view as a phenomenal, jaw-to-the-floor type of faith, God simply views as a minimum expectation of faith.
So if that’s the case, then the question that must be asked is this, is that the type of faith you have? If your story were to be sandwiched in the middle of the Bible, would your faith blend in with the likes of David and Paul or would you stand out because of your lack of faith like, say, “Doubting” Thomas?
I know it’s easy to get discouraged by thinking the faith you read about in the Bible is so far out of your reach, but Jesus tells us all we need is the faith the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). Can you do that? Not by yourself. But with the help of God, “…all things are possible…” (Mark 10:27).
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
