Freedom of Speech
And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Thy bond-servants may speak Thy word with all confidence Acts 4:29
Confidence – Have you been threatened? Oh, maybe no one came up to you with a gun, or shouted at you with malice aforethought, or told you that you were going to be tortured or punished. Maybe all the threat you ever had was the innuendo of rejection, or the social snub or something much less violent than jail time. But my guess is that if you are traveling the road with Jesus, you know what it means to be threatened. Every time the circumstances of your life look as though they are about to cave in, you are threatened. It might not be a threat from a physical enemy, but we all know that the battle is with princes and powers not visible. Threats are part of what it means to be a follower. (By the way, if they aren’t part of your experience, you might want to take a hard look at how willing you are to stand for Jesus).
The disciples knew threats – real, physical, ominous ones! “Don’t speak any more about this man, Jesus, or you will be severely punished.” That’s a threat. But notice how they respond. It is quite a bit different than the kind of response we see in our churches today. They do not ask God to remove the threat. They ask Him to give them courage and confidence to go right on doing what He wants them to do in spite of assured reprisals. They don’t ask God to “fix-it.” They ask Him to make them even bolder. They are willing to walk right into the lion’s den as long as He is with them.
I doubt that we would take this approach. I can hear our prayers. “Lord, lift us out of this mess. Lord, take away these terrible people who threaten us. Lord, protect us from this disaster. Lord, make things better for us.” We pray with the good God syndrome in mind. God wants us to be happy, right? Anything that comes between us and personal happiness must be from the devil, so please fix it, God. Give us back our peaceful, tranquil lives of enjoyment and prosperity. What nonsense we’ve swallowed. When did God declare an end to the hostilities with the world? Not until Jesus returns. Until then, pray for boldness, not escape!
The Greek helps us see just what the disciples expected. Parresia literally means, “all speaking.” In other words, it means to be able to speak whatever and whenever. It is the first century Greek equivalent of freedom of speech. The disciples pray that they will not encounter any lack of courage in speaking the truth. But they do not pray that they will be spared the consequences! This is real freedom of speech – to speak the truth of God regardless of the outcome. Is that what you want? Do you want to speak God’s will no matter what happens? Or are you praying for protection for a cowardly spirit?
