Dictators Breed Cowards
When a dictator rules, one of three things will happen to the courageous:
- The courageous will stand up to the dictator and be mowed down.
- The courageous will stand up to the dictator and escape/survive and will be hated and feared by the dictator.
- The courageous will do nothing and will slowly become cowards.
Those are the only options I can think of. That’s why I conclude that…
dictators breed cowards
It’s true in governments. It’s true in companies. It’s true in churches.
If our churches have difficulty developing courageous leadership, this just might be the cause.
Cowardly lions
If Fundamentalism were an animal, I think it would be a lion. Yet we often roar ferociously when there is no danger and cower at the crucial moment.
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- Do I have the courage to confront sin lovingly but directly?
- When’s the last time I did it?
- Do I have the courage to defend sound doctrine among my friends?
- Do I have the courage to preach Christ alone to a pluralist?
- Do I have the courage to tell my friends the truth about themselves?
- Do I have the courage to ask my friends to tell me the truth about myself?
- Do I have the courage to do what I believe is right without running it by key people to make sure it is acceptable in my “camp” first?
- Do I have the courage to stand up to bullies even when they are rich or powerful?
May God grant us all courage to do right and the humility to be accountable in substative, meaningful ways.
Life on planet blog
- Christian rapper gets two years prison for “Kill Me A Cop” song.
- Dave Doran has some very good thoughts on keeping theological balance in keep the bubble in the middle.
Finally, this is an interesting testimony to the power of kindness from a former KKK member.
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The second part of your post is good.
“Do I have the courage to do what I believe is right without running it by key people to make sure it is acceptable in my “camp” first?”
God gives us key people in our lives for this very purpose. They are there to advise us and help us do what is right. What may be seen as assuring ‘acceptability’ with those people could in fact just be taking the opportunity to assure this is what God really wants us to do. Approaching them and taking their advise often requires greater courage then not approaching them at all. And if our key people are only interested in making sure we fit in the camp regardless of right or wrong, then they’re not the right key people to have. We should think about getting some new ones…
Absolutely Kez. I agree. Wise people get a lot of counsel. The question was aimed at that particular motive, not for running something by people in general.
Thanks for pointing that out.