Courage

We often misuse the word courage. We apply it in sports events or public life. We deem people courageous for telling the truth or undergoing public or newspaper scrutiny. Courage has become a catchword for doing the right thing. I can't help but wonder if doing the right thing should be a matter of conviction and belief rather than a matter of courage. Courage is something quite different, I think.
Courage is taking your convictions and beliefs and being willing to put everything you have on the line for them. We met some friends of ours back in May at a movie theater (The Simpson's). They were getting ready to go to Romania to become missionaries. They have been lay leaders in their congregation. Now, they are putting everything they have and are on the line. I listened to one of the presentations at Campmeeting this year. It was a recognition of missionaries Stan and Marion Hoffman. They have spent their lives in Africa sharing the gospel with thousands and tens of thousands. They have been in the midst of civil war and been surrounded by revolutionaries with guns pointed at them. They have not only survived countless attacks but have flourished in their ministry through the power of the Holy Spirit. They have returned to the North America but have left their children and grandchildren behind to carry on the work of the Lord. Their book, "Amid Perils Often" is a powerful story of courage and faith.
As I stood on the battlefield at Gettysburg I looked out over an area that held 175,000 men who fought against one another. Most fought for ideals, beliefs, convictions. These convictions were so powerful that they raced at each other with abandon and sacrificed their lives for the cause. The picture at the right is a picture of one corner of The Wheatfield at Gettysburg. It is the area in the distance that has yellow flowers blooming across it. It was written that you could walk across The Wheatfield at the end of the battle and never touch the ground, because there were so many dead bodies lying there. The other picture is Joanie standing at the top of the ridge that made up the left flank of the Union army on Little Round Top. Confederate soldiers stormed this spot coming from the trees that are behind her in a failed attempt to come up the ridge and secure the high ground for the South. At the height of the battle, the Union soldiers holding this position, led by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, were out of ammunition. The Alabama regiments of General Longstreets Corps were about to charge again. Chamberlain ordered his men, the 20th Maine, to fix bayonets and charge down the hill. In a feat of courage seldom matched in a battle filled with courageous moments, the men charged down the hill, sacrificing life and limb, and turned the tide. The Union won the day. What courage! Not fake courage or supposed courage. Real courage. Like the men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, they put their lives on the line for what they believed. That is courage. Let us not misuse the word.