Ephesians 6:19-20
The world is becoming increasingly hostile to the message of the Gospel. This has been predicted from the beginning and we are seeing it unfold before our very eyes. The reason why persecution is mild in America is that there are still great numbers of Christians, and very few Christians speak the Gospel with boldness. The reason Christians have been silenced is primarily because of social fear. There exists in society such a collective frown upon anyone who would preach that their way is the right way, and other ways are the wrong way, that Christians fear being categorized as zealots, extremists, proselytizers, fundamentalists, and now, even evangelicals. Some Christians won’t even call themselves Christians anymore! The prayer request of Paul for boldness to proclaim the Gospel should be our desperate request. The glorious truth is that the Lord is willing to grant great boldness to His people to speak out His message without fear of consequences.