Do you consider yourself courageous? What attributes are required to merit the label of courageous? Some say courage is developed the same way as one builds muscle – through exercise. If so, one would start with small acts of bravery and work up to fully developed courage.   

Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, says bravery comes along as a gradual accumulation of discipline.  

I wonder though if courage or bravery is not more visible through devotion. Devotion can begin at a very young age. A schoolboy defends his little sister on the playground—devotion to family. A truck driver stops in a storm for a stranded motorist—devotion to the vulnerable. The elderly man nurses his dying wife—devotion to marriage. The teacher stays after hours to tutor a struggling child—devotion to a young life. You might ask, “Where is the courage,” in each of these scenarios? Well, courage can be embedded in a thousand circumstances – some highly visible, others quietly, though no less heroic. Courage goes against the grain. The courageous one may very well realize the risk, and the cost, but plows ahead, nonetheless. Courage is single minded.           

Such is the story of a group of volunteers who stepped up after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Even after the worst of the nuclear disaster had been contained, there was a massive amount of cleanup and containment remaining to be done. Young men were being doused in radiation day after day trying to neutralize the damage, until one man, Yasuteru Yamada, a 72-year-old engineer and cancer survivor acted courageously.            

Yasuteru felt terrible knowing the risk, and likely serious health implications, that these young men were facing from the exposure. And all before their life had really begun. He asked for and got 400 volunteers almost immediately. And thus began what became known as the Skilled Veterans Corps (the SVC), a volunteer force of elderly (and yes, sadly they considered over 60 as elderly) Japanese engineers and other helpers, both men and women, to take the place of the young.      

The SVC realized that their work at the plant could take years off their lives and subject them to severe illness, but as Yamada said, “I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore, us older ones have less chance of getting cancer.” The SVC demonstrated courage and devotion while mentoring the young men through their selfless service, and all despite the risks and costs that were clearly seen.           

Some might say that courageous discipleship is inconvenient and risky as well. Potentially embarrassing and quite possibly dangerous, courageous discipleship involves self-sacrifice and risk taking. The Bible is replete with examples of that type of courage and boldness, but it did not end with antiquity. A little more than a century ago, there were three ships within 58 miles of the sinking Titanic, yet it was the one farthest out (58 miles out as opposed to the 7 and 14 miles of the other two ships) that decided to be the lifeboat. The captain prayed to God for direction, turned his boat, navigated ice fields in the dark and kept going. He saved 705 lives that night. He chose right over easy. He had the courage to look beyond his comfort. The other two ships? One decided to wait until morning light for improved conditions. The other, well they were involved in illegal seal hunting and could not risk getting caught. Embarrassing indeed.

I know that some of you have seen that kind of courage. Maybe you have even displayed it yourself. Maybe it was huge, like our two examples, or maybe you were the courageous quiet one or perhaps you know someone who is. The disciples in Acts demonstrate some amazing courage as well, over and over again. For some it was out of character, but they did it anyway. How? Join us tomorrow for our study and let’s see what they have to show us. 

If you cannot be with us in person, feel free to download the Bible study materials for your personal use by following one of these links: PowerPoint Slides, PDF File. You can also find the video of this session on our YouTube channel soon after the meeting concludes. And lastly, you could follow this link to download other studies in this series: INpowered Discipleship if you happened to miss one of our prior studies.

Yours in Christ,

Eric Glover     
The Gospels Class      
Brentwood Baptist Church