Years ago, as a student at Oral Roberts University, I was studying in the library and saw a little daily quote calendar on the counter. The quote for that day said, “If 40,000 people do something wrong, it’s still wrong.” My takeaway was that even if the majority is wrong, there has to be at least one courageous person who is willing to stand up and act or speak for what is right.

Displaying courage means to overcome fear by saying or doing what is right. Courage is the ability to answer the doorbell of fear, but not allow it to stay. It means to act or speak, despite the risk, in the face of extreme pressure of failure. Courage is not the absence of fear, because if there was no fear, there would be no need for courage. Courage is the proper acknowledgment and response to fear, until fear is disarmed. Courage never considers the repercussions, because righting wrongs is more important than being accepted.

Displaying courage is not easy. Far from it. Just ask the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, who was on a search for courage, and seemed to find it when he decided to stand up to the Wizard on Dorothy’s behalf. He said…

“All right, I’ll go in there for Dorothy. Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch, guards or no guards, I’ll tear them apart. I may not come out alive, but I’m going in there. There’s only one thing I want you fellows to do.”

“What’s that?” the Tin Man and Scarecrow asked.

The Cowardly Lion shouted, “Talk me out of it!”

In everyone’s life there comes a moment when something in them stands up and says, “That’s not right!” or “I can’t let this happen!” or “Somebody needs to do something!”

We all remember 9/11 and the two-word mantra, “Let’s roll!” that was spoken by Todd Beamer just before he and three others attempted to thwart the hijackers on United Flight 93. Two months later, then President George Bush, referred to the bravery of these four men, by saying, “Some of our greatest moments have been acts of courage for which no one could have been prepared.”

These moments come unexpectedly in a multiplicity of ways during our lives when fear knocks on the door of our emotions. It could be a fear of public speaking, a fear of water, a fear of heights, a fear of a particular animal, a fear of taking a new job, a fear of hitting a golf shot over water.

I remember as a young pre-teen my fear of playing the piano in church…in front of everybody. It usually happened during the Sunday evening service whenever the regular pianist decided to take the night off. Service would begin with the congregation singing a song A Capella as I sat in my seat with my head down, because I didn’t want to catch eyes with anyone who might tell me to go to the piano. Oh, I knew in that moment that the pastor, my mom, and my dad were all looking at me, but I refused to look up. The A Capella singing continued. “Maybe nobody’s looking at me after all, I thought. I briefly lift my head to take a quick peak, and immediately catch eyes with my mom who is giving me that stare that says, “Boy, get up there and play that piano!” Oh, the fear that would flood my whole being as I walked slowly to the piano.

I would struggle through the song service, playing as best I could. This happened Sunday after Sunday, each time with fear gripping me from head to toe. Until one day a wonderfully freeing thought came to me that said, “Alvin, if there was anyone else here who could play better than you, they would be up there.” In that moment I realized that I was the kid for the job; the one God had chosen to help others worship Him. From that moment on, the fear no longer had power over me, and is a huge reason why I’m comfortable today in front of crowds big or small.

There are so many courageous people in history from which we can gain inspiration. People like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln; the list goes on and on. But my favorite, by far, is Jesus. Yes, He was the Son of God, but scripture tells us that He emptied Himself to be found in the fashion of a man, and was in all ways tempted just like we are. He experienced the same emotions and feelings that we do. This is no more evident than when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night He was betrayed and arrested, and said,

“Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but Your will be done.”

For a brief moment, Jesus, the Son of God, experienced fear and anxiety over the cup from which He was about to drink…for us. Everyone, at some point in their lives, has a “cup” and the fear of drinking from that cup can cause us to plead with God for Him to take it away. But like Jesus, we must find the inner strength and courage to say, “Not my will…not my fear, but Your will be done.”

In Todd Beamer’s call to the 911 operator on 9/11, the first thing he said was this; “Hello… Operator…listen to me…I can’t speak very loud.” Oh, how wrong he was. For his courage has spoken loudly and clearly; echoing over and over again across this country and world. Maybe your courage will too.

In closing, I want to “en-courage” you. You will have times…moments in your life when you feel strongly that something needs to be done or said to right a wrong or to bring a different perspective, but your feelings of fear may be difficult to overcome. In those moments, remember this, “If there was anyone else in the room who could do it or say it better than you, they would. So, get up there!”  You be that courageous one who stands up for what is right, even if there are 40,000 others who see it differently.