Living on the Edge

Dave Drewy: Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, let me ask you a personal question. In our current environment, have you found yourself at times being ashamed of the Lord? Maybe even being ashamed of the gospel? There's a word of hope for that today. Stay with me.

Paul wrote Second Timothy from a Roman prison, chained as a criminal, awaiting execution. And his message to his young apprentice wasn't, "Play it safe." It was, "Be bold."

I'm Dave Drewy, and today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram begins a message from this powerful letter titled, "Be Bold, Don't Be Ashamed." It's the next part of our larger study called, "You Can Make Disciples, Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul."

And remember, you can always revisit or share these lessons anytime by going online to livingontheedge.org. Well, now here's Chip Ingram with his message.

Chip Ingram: You'll notice on the very front of your notes, it talks about the paralyzing power of fear. And I think we've all experienced a lot of that. And I want to, I want to begin a little bit differently than normally.

If you have a Bible, if you'd open to Second Timothy. And what I would like you to recognize is that as you open that, you're holding one of the most precious documents in the world in the last 2,000 years.

And so let me give you the framework of the entire book. There's four essentials in this book to becoming an effective disciple maker. Chapter one is to be bold, don't be ashamed. And each chapter, he's going to say something very clear, very strong. He'll be a challenge, he'll even talk about it as a sacred deposit.

Now think of something that you would put in a deposit box, or something that's so precious. He goes, "This is this deposit. God gave it to me, I'm giving it to you." Chapter one, "Be bold. Don't you dare be ashamed." Chapter two, "Be strong. Don't be distracted." There's so many things that will take you off course. Chapter three is, "Be prepared." "Don't be surprised."

The world's going to get difficult and worse and more evil than you imagine. Don't act like, "Oh, where's God? What's happened?" And then chapter four is, "Be faithful. Don't shrink back."

I want you to realize that this was written in an environment where Christians were paralyzed by fear. Does that sound familiar?

What we're facing in our lives, if we're honest, is we're often paralyzed by fear. We're fearful to be bold, and to be strong, and to be outspoken about our faith, to be outspoken about our loyalty to Jesus. Sometimes in our own families, not bold to say, "This is right and this is wrong."

Because what you know is that even if you share it winsomely or kindly or lovingly, and if you share it even with exactly the right motives and the right intentions, there's a good chance you'll get canceled. There's a good chance that you'll be rejected, even from family, maybe some other church members.

There's a pretty good chance if you're loyal to Jesus and to his word, that's what Paul's going to tell us to do, that some people will call you and see you as a bigot or maybe even a hater because you would say, "I'm a follower of Jesus."

Now, to be fair, can we try and be fair and look at it through the lens of other people? We have acted in some ways, and we have done some things as the church that have given them way too much ammunition to say, there are bigots. They are haters.

There's, there's some in our family that have stood for the truth in ways that were most unloving, most unkind, and most uncaring.

So it's not about just, are we committed to the truth? Are we committed to the grace and truth? Jesus came and he was described in John one, what? Grace and truth. The law came through Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, but He, Jesus, has the Greek word is exegesis him. That means explained him, made him real, understanding.

When Bible teachers, we exegesis the text. That means we, we study it and find out what did it mean to the first century and what did it mean? What do these words mean? And what's the culture? Because we want to fully exegete to understand it so we can know how should we teach it to 21st century people? That's what Jesus did. And that's what he wants us to do.

So we're going to have a challenge. And this book will address those fears. And here's the exciting part, and it will provide the truth that will empower you and me to be set free. To be bold, to do it winsomely and kindly, nonjudgmentally. To shoot it straight with family and friends and neighbors in a way and with a heart and with a kindness that has both grace and truth.

And so I'd like to ask you a question, on a scale of one to ten right now, how would you rank your boldness for Christ? Okay, just personally. You don't have to, you know, you might [coughs]. I'm going to write this very small on my notes. Please keep your eyes on your own paper, you know.

A one is I've been a wimp. I've just, I've been passive. There would be no evidence to convict me as being a believer. I just kind of shut my mouth, keep my head down. I don't like conflict. I don't like arguments. When that, when the conversation comes up, because it always leads to other things, I just be quiet. And a ten is, man, I've been bold. I have shared it, right? Okay?

And I'm going to assume whether you're a one or a ten that you've done it winsomely and lovingly and kindly. And and and here's, here's no one can be a five. It's human nature. "Oh, I'm about a five." Liar, liar, pants on fire. In denial.

But you, I mean, I just want to ask you, how, just honestly, how bold? You read through the book of Acts, you, the greatest evidence of the Holy Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit is boldness. It's boldness.

And so I'm going to ask this final question then we're going to jump right into the text and get to the answer. What are your greatest fears currently with regard to your faith? Try to be as honest as you can.

Is it being rejected? Is your fear that you'll be misunderstood? You're afraid that if you're bold, you'll create more division in your family or your church?

And so what I would say is what the Apostle Paul is going to do is he's, here's, here's what I like, and here's the big transition. He's going to talk to a young man who by nature of personality and history just tends to be afraid when nothing's wrong. And he's going to pass the baton, and right now things almost couldn't be worse.

And so as you dig into your notes, let's, let's see what the Apostle Paul in this prison from his heart is going to say to his son in the faith. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, according to notice his, his focus, the promise of life in Christ Jesus.

I'm in this dungeon, but the first words are about hope. And it's a promise, and he always keeps his promises. To Timothy. Think about when you want to align with someone and when you want to encourage him. How important is to affirm, "My beloved son."

"Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus," not the Lord, "our Lord."

"I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my forefathers did. As I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day."

I'm here, you're there, but I'm thinking about you all the time. I'm praying for you all the time. I love you, I miss you.

"Longing to see you, even as I recall tears, so that I might be filled with joy." He's playing the videos in his mind about times with Timothy. The meal we had here, what happened in Lystra, you know, the thing that happened over here, the early times in Ephesus, you know, the miracles we got to see God do. You know, watching you grow, watching you take some of these assignments like Titus.

"For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well."

These first five verses, you'll notice in your notes the historical background, you now know from whom it is, Paul and why, about AD 67, in a Roman prison. And you know, it's to Timothy in Ephesus to pass the baton.

And I just want to, I want you to listen for the importance of the mentor-mentee relationship. And the context, it's both the content and the context. But it's deep, real, vulnerable, affirming relationship.

I, uh, I came to Christ right after high school before college, and uh, I was discipled by a discipleship para church group and, um, it wasn't a on staff person, he was a brick layer.

And I would say, um, I, I was not a very, uh, you know, people went to Bible studies and things like that and I sort of hit and miss and had a hard time getting up and go to church. But Dave would come and, and meet down at my little, uh, kitchenette.

You know, I, I look back and I can't tell you how many meals I ate at Dave's house. I can't tell you how many times he knocked on the door and I pretended I was asleep. I can't tell you how many times other leaders in the ministry said, "Dave, that Ingram will never amount to anything. He is a flake." And they were right.

But he just wouldn't give up on me.

Dave Drewy: You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Chip will be right back, but first, if you've been wanting to dig deeper into these Bible teachings, our YouTube channel is a great place to start. You'll find video teaching series on important matters like trusting Jesus no matter what, and content that goes beyond what you hear on the radio.

Just search Living on the Edge on YouTube. And when you find us, hit subscribe so you never miss a new upload. We'd love to have you join our growing community. Now, back to our message.

Chip Ingram: See, I, I think somehow discipleship turned into, "Would you like to be in our group? What did you get for question number four? Um, it's been great. You know, then, "Oh, did you hear Macy's has a sale?" And, "Hey, what do you think about," then you name your NFL team, or your SEC team, and the men go over here, and the ladies go over here, and I went to Bible study.

And, and by the way, that's a really great beginning. But genuine discipleship flows out of heart relationships where you affirm and love and have experiences where you cry together. It's not about their spiritual performance. It's not about how much of the Bible they know. It's not about whether they showed up or not. It's not about whether you can, you know, you, you, after they leave, you talk about, you know, they're still doing this, and he still drinks too much, and, you know, I can tell he still has that porn issue, I can tell he's kind of lying to us, or all that junk, it's about loving them and getting them into God's word and introducing them to Jesus and putting your arm around them and walking with them to Jesus.

So they begin to get to know Jesus. So he changes their life from the inside out. And that transformation begins to spill into every area of their life over time with all their ups and downs like we all had. That's the context of discipleship and we've lost that.

And by the way, you know what? I don't know about you, but if I have a problem, I would much rather someone take an X-ray or MRI and say, "By the way, we do have a problem. You have cancer."

You have the greatest opportunity in your lifetime to make an impact for Jesus Christ because things are raw. It's been revealed. Deep discipleship, real discipleship, always flows from the heart.

And, and I want you to imagine, like, coming up and there's a box. And the box says truth. And then I want you to imagine a bridge. And here's another box, and it says truth. And your children and your grandchildren and people that you want to help are on this side of the bridge.

And inside this is the truth of your life, the gospel, the word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit. And what you want is you want to get this truth not only in their mind, their heart and their will, but you want to get it in their hearts over there.

Do you, do you know what the bridge is that connects it? It's not information. It's relationship. People can only receive as much truth as they trust you, as they think you believe in them, as they actually experience. "I've prayed for you night and day. With longing I'd love to be with you with tears. I'm remembering you."

"I think about your family." What, what's he really saying? He's saying, "Timothy, this isn't coming as, this is what you ought to do and get with the program." You see, the stronger the bridge, this is great for you parents and even grandparents. The stronger the bridge, the greater the weight of the truth you can get from over there to over here.

And what I learned a long time ago with four kids that are all spread out, they're all going to have problems and they're all going to have struggles and they're all going to come to a time where they don't know if they buy into you or God or anything else. And you, and you've modeled as best you can, but what I can tell you is, and sometimes they'll make some really big mistakes, right?

But if the bridge is strong, then they'll feel safe to come and talk about it and get some help. And so that's what Paul does. Now he shifts gears and he's going to give Timothy three specific challenges. Let's walk through them together.

Challenge number one is to be bold and fulfill your calling from verses six and seven. He says, "Notice, for this reason." What reason? The reason of how much I love you? The reason for where I'm at? The reason for why we're here and God's calling? "For this reason, I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. Why? For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."

So he's talking about Timothy's responsibility, right? Remember the laying, it's, he's talking about his ordination. He received the spirit when he trusted Christ. This was a time when Timothy, God's got his hand on your life, remember this gift, this deposit to be entrusted with the gospel, you need to get, hey, there's a lot of junk going on now. It's illegal right now. Nero is a nutcase.

Here's what I want you to get. Everything you're seeing in this world that makes you up tight and this is craziness, never been like this, it was way worse. And this is what he said to a young man who hung in there, and he passed it on, who passed it on, who passed it on, who passed it on so that you're sitting in this seat.

And so his responsibility is to stand at the flame. And then God's provision is, "You have a spirit living within you called the Holy Spirit." And the characteristics of the Holy Spirit is what?

It's not timidity. It's not fear. It's dunamis. We get our word dynamite. It's power, it's love, and it's discipline. And what you know and I know is that what we need in order for this spirit to have more of us is we need time in God's word because the spirit of God takes the word of God and makes it the living word in our life. We need the community of God's people so the spirit living in you and the spirit living in me as we share and pray and then Jesus shows up, renews me.

And that spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, creates the kind of love and discipline for people that are different, that helps us endure when it's hard, and helps us discipline ourselves to do what we need to do instead of what we want to do. You can't live off your emotions. You can't live out of fear. You either live out of faith, you live out of fear.

If you live out of fear, your life is like an emotional rollercoaster. And God says, "You don't have that spirit." He's telling him, basically, "Timothy, you've got what you need to make it." Your part, fan the flame.

Now, can I ask you something? Can you in your mind's eye go back and tell me when were you your most passionate about following Jesus Christ? What, when, when, just when was it that you, man, you know, I got to get up and I got to read. I got to share my faith. I got to care. We got new neighbors coming in. I, I, this matters.

It matters more than, I could miss an SEC game, I could miss an NFL game, I could miss a sale. This is what, this is who and what really matters. When was that? And if it's not right now, then here's the call, fan it into flame. Just fan it into flame.

God's not mad at you. He wants to help you. He he's saying, "Of course you have fear, that's why I gave you my spirit." It overcomes that. The principle, we must constantly remind one another of powerful experiences in our past and the power given to us by his spirit.

Sit around the table. When, when family comes over. Just say, "Hey, what are the biggest miracles our family has ever, ever experienced? What are your biggest moments with God?"

See, you need to remember the God that answered those prayers, he's the same, right? Today, yesterday, forever. He's willing, he's open. But we need to come with expectation. We need to come with a sense of he's real and vital and wants to work and wants to bless and wants to use us.

And I think the first place to do that, the aside to parents, is let's make our kids and grandkids our number one group that we disciple.

And I, and there's, please, I mean, I, I, you know, we're, we live in the psychological world, so, uh, what I mean by that is that what used to be biblical language has turned into therapeutic language. People don't sin, they're sick. Right? You know. Or they have a syndrome or an ism. And, and, hey, you know, I majored in psychology, undergraduate and graduate work. So I, I understand it.

But, but here's what I'm saying is, sometimes we ought to use words like sin and guilt. False guilt's bad. True guilt means the Holy Spirit is putting his finger on something specific about my life, my mouth, my behavior, my attitude, that's wrong. And and that the agenda is not to make me feel, you know, we're in a world where, oh, I don't want to make you feel bad. There's times, guess what?

God wants you to feel bad. Feeling really bad about doing something bad or thinking something bad or saying something bad is called remorse. And remorse leads to, oh, I'm sorry, and I'm sorry leads to repentance, a metanoia, change of mind, where you say, "Oh, Lord," do you understand? All sin, it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship.

Sin isn't fundamentally, you just crossed this line. Sin is, you hurt your savior. You hurt your wife. You let your heavenly Father down. You disappointed him. You know, it's, it's, when it's just like, well, I, I'll try not to do that anymore. That, that's, that's behaviorism. That's moralism.

Sin is, I missed the mark of loving and caring, and something came out of my mouth and it's wrong in me. I need to own it. And when I come and I own it and I ask God to forgive me, he forgives me and cleanses me of all my sin. And he fills my heart with peace.

Dave Drewy: You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. And that's part one of a message called, "Be Bold, Don't Be Ashamed," from our continuing series, "You Can Make Disciples, Personal Coaching from the Apostle Paul." Part two is coming your way next time, so don't miss it.

Every lesson in this series is on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe so it comes to you automatically. And for the full sermon, unedited, check out the Chip Ingram Sermon podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Paul told Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and discipline. That's a statement about identity, not effort. And that same truth, that change comes from who God says you are, not from how hard you try, runs through every page of Chip's book, "Yes, You Really Can Change." It's an honest, hopeful look at what genuine transformation requires, and what God has already put in place to make it possible.

Right now, we're including a second copy with every purchase so you can share the reading experience with someone who needs that same reminder. Find it at livingontheedge.org/offers.

You know, this ministry is listener supported, and your generosity is what makes it possible. If Living on the Edge has been meaningful in your life, we invite you to help us keep going strong. Your gift of any amount helps us reach more people with practical biblical truth. Give online at livingontheedge.org, or call us at 888-333-6003. You can also give through the mail by writing to us at Living on the Edge, PO Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024.

Well, now here's Chip.

Chip Ingram: As we close today's program, I want to ask you a very important question because if the Apostle Paul wanted to encourage this young pastor who was so faithful, not to be ashamed. I have to believe that you struggle with that the way that I do.

I'd like you to pray one very simple prayer as the application to today. Lord, will you show me where in my life I've been ashamed of you or the gospel? Whether it's at work, whether it's with friends, when something controversial comes up, would you please show me where I've been ashamed of you. And would you help me fan into flame my faith, that Lord, I would never, ever be ashamed of you in any way. Would you pray that in your own words, ask God to show you? Never before have we needed to be more bold and more winsome for Jesus and the gospel. Let's be that today.

Dave Drewy: I'm Dave Drewy. Coming up, Chip Ingram concludes his message, "Be Bold, Don't Be Ashamed." We're firming up this inspiring challenge to not be ashamed of God, and to not be ashamed of his word. That's the message next time on Living on the Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.