Know Jack #498 Bravery

Bravery, the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty. Merriam Webster

Bravery is easy enough to define, but even with a description, it is not always easy to recognize. Men have been hailed as brave for trying to turn themselves into women. Others for blowing whistles and shouting obscenities at law enforcement. One of the benefits of calling opinions “My Truth” is that words mean only what the speaker dictates.

Most of what our society dubs as bravery is really no more than the crying of petulant children. Jesus likened some of His contemporaries to children crying in the marketplace and saying, “We have piped unto you, and you have not danced.” In their own mind, their desires were a tune to which everyone else had to dance. He wanted followers who were childlike, not childish.

As is always true with mankind, nothing has changed. People want their own way and for everyone to say how heroic it is for them to insist on it. It is not heroic nor brave to “resist” the law when there is no danger. Were ICE agents truly Nazi’s, the protests in Minnesota would have ended on the first day. Hitler’s brown shirts would have fired into the crowd and hung the survivors in public.

There is a scene in one of my favorite movies in which a policeman puts a gun to a thief’s head. To which the thief says, “You won’t hurt me, you’re a policeman.” There is no fear in the minds of people today. No fear of the repercussions of the law and no fear of God. So, lawlessness not only abounds but is labeled bravery. Where there is no fear, there is no bravery, only bravado.

Bravery is the mental/moral strength to face danger or difficulty. Victory does not necessarily require bravery. You may be brave and still walk away scared and beaten. Courage comes from facing trouble head-on.