Be Bold. Real Bold.

“If you want to SOUND bold, preach law. If you want to BE bold, preach grace.”

A quote that has always stuck with me comes from Dr. Doug Kelly. He said, “If you want to make people mad, preach law. If you want to make them really, really mad, preach grace.”

I’ve found that to be true. People may not like being told what they need to do, but they really don’t like being told there’s nothing they can do, and that (perhaps even more offensively) everything has already been done for them...But maybe most offensive of all: grace levels the playing field.

In God’s economy of grace, there are no “better-thans,” no levels of holiness, no platforms, no glory-hoarding, and no rule-imposed control. There’s no “us vs. them,” no spiritual elitism, no insider circles, no favoritism or hierarchy, no earning, no proving, no ladder to climb, no levels of favor - just a bunch of "beggars helping other beggars find bread."

And sadly, that makes people really, really mad.

R.C. Sproul once wrote: “We often hear that people don’t like to be in the presence of Christians because Christians manifest a smug, self-righteous attitude or a goody-two-shoes, holier-than-thou attitude. But this should not be the case. Christians have nothing to be smug about; we are not righteous people trying to correct the unrighteous. The chief difference between the believer and the unbeliever is forgiveness. The only thing that qualifies a person to be a minister in the name of Christ is that that person has experienced forgiveness and wants to tell of it to others.”

I used to buy into the lie that boldness was best displayed by those “laying down the law” and “calling people out.” But if preaching grace is what makes people “really, really mad,” then maybe the boldest thing we can do is stick to the message that refuses to tolerate platforms, elitism, glory-hoarding, and “better-thans.”

The Gospel of Grace...now that's bold.

So, I’ll take the liberty of altering Dr. Doug Kelly’s quote a bit: “If you want to SOUND bold, preach law. If you want to BE bold, preach grace.”