A CALL TO

COURAGE

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Group Discussion:
gathering at base camp
1. Who are some of the most courageous people you’ve known?
What did you most admire about them?

2. How do you define courage?

3. Read 1 Corinthians 16:13–14 below, and explain how it relates

to living courageously.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Let all that you do be done in love.

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 4. In what ways do men need courage for daily living?

5. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?

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personal exercise:
logging time on the trail

Day One

Defining Courage

What is courage? Seems like a simple question. It’s a common word,

used in a wide variety of ways. For instance, men call war heroes
courageous, but use the same word to describe a man changing a
diaper, playing sports, or eating his mother-in-law’s cooking. No
doubt these are all different degrees of courage.

So what is courage, really? It’s a question the video wrestled with and
one we want to help you answer. Start by taking your own stab at it:
What is courage, at its very core? How do you define courage?

1. Courage is:

Many well-known people have proposed definitions:

Courage is being scared to death, and saddling up anyway.

—John Wayne

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

—George S. Patton

Courage is . . . a strong desire to live taking the form of a

readiness to die.
—G. K. Chesterton

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that
something else is more important.
—Ambrose Redmoon

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 Courage is knowing what not to fear.
— Plato The absence of fear
is not courage; the
absence of fear is
Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no
mental illness.
courage unless you’re scared.
—World War I Flying Ace Eddie Rickenbacker —PO BRONSON,
in Guillebeau,The Art
Of Non-Conformity
It is interesting that fear stands front and center in each of
these definitions. Courage almost always has a “nearly messed
my pants” factor. It inherently involves overcoming fear to take
action. Webster’s dictionary even defines courage as a “mental
or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger,
fear, or difficulty.” 1

In the book Stepping Up, Dennis Rainey said,

When you read books or watch documentaries about men

who, like Red Erwin, were presented the highest award a
soldier can receive—the Congressional Medal of Honor—
you notice that the phrase most often repeated by these
decorated warriors is, “I was just doing my duty.” They don’t
consider themselves heroes. They just did their duty in the
face of danger. They were scared, but they acted anyway. 2

Simply put, courage is “doing your duty under fire.” Courage

involves action in the face of resistance, whether the resistance
comes from within yourself or from some outside force.

2. Who are some of the most courageous people you know?

List their names below.

3. What do you admire most about their lives? What aspect of

their lives do you most want to emulate?

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 The Question

Dennis posed the question in the video: “What’s the most courageous
thing you’ve ever done?” Not an easy one to answer, but it’s worth
taking a shot.

4. What would you say is your greatest act of courage? What

would be your defining courageous moment as a man?

5. If you are married, and if you dare, ask your wife what she
thinks is the most courageous thing you've ever done. If you
are single, ask your parents or a close friend.

Many men struggle with answering this question, especially in

comparison to heroic stories like Red Erwin’s. The only grenades most
of us handle are full of paint or pesticide. Hardly the stuff of legends.
But courage does not apply only to the epic stories of heroism. Doing
your duty under fire also happens daily in dozens of seemingly small
"In the world you ways. It occurs with every little act to overcome the resistance to do
have tribulation, but the right thing.
take courage; I have
overcome the world." In the days ahead we’ll explore this more and identify some of the little
—JOHN 16:33 NASB acts of courage you are called to do. Tomorrow we turn to the Bible for
more on defining courage.

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 Day Two

Courage in the Bible

The word courage occurs in the Bible thirty-nine times (ESV). Most
uses appear in the Old Testament, and most have to do with battles
and wars. But there are some other interesting contexts as well.

1. Look up the following verses and write some of the key words
connected with courage in each of these passages.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Joshua 1:9
1 Chronicles 22:13
2 Chronicles 32:7

The key phrases here are “Be strong” and “Do not fear.” Of particular
note is that each of the above verses connects all three ideas: be strong,
be courageous, and do not fear. The Bible clearly enforces the idea that
to be a man of courage you must have strength, and you must put aside
fear. But to what end? Yes, most of these verses are about battle, but what
were they fighting for? A new set of fig leaves? A stash of replacement
sandal straps? Maybe some cords for girding up those sagging loins?

2. Think back to the reason these battles were being fought.

What was it for?

These battles were fought at the command of the one and only God,
and for His glory and honor alone. The courage the men were called
to display was first and foremost for the sake of the name of their
God—not for patriotism or for personal esteem or even for the sake
of their families; it was primarily to bring greater glory to God.

Courage in the
New Testament

In the New Testament things take an interesting turn. The word

courage occurs only six times. Why did the word take a hiatus when

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 Jesus appeared? Were the disciples only one-fifth as courageous as the
patriarchs? The point is not to undermine courage in the New
Testament, but to show a different emphasis of courage.

3. Look up the following verses. Try to identify the courageous act

that is being performed and write it in the space that follows.

Mark 15:43

Acts 23:11

2 Corinthians 5:6–8

Philippians 1:20

4. What would you conclude about courage in the New Testament

that is different from the bulk of what occurs in the Old Testament?

5. What are the similarities?

In the New Testament passages, men were called to take courageous

steps to testify about Jesus, to spread the message of His work and life.
Some were called to risk their lives (Paul), some their reputations
(Joseph of Arimathea). Though the setting is different from the Old
Testament, the goal was the same: be willing to perform acts of
courage for the sake of God’s glory.

6. In what ways are men called to act courageously on behalf of

God’s honor today?

7. Can you name a circumstance in your life where you

courageously acted on behalf of God? If so, describe what
you did and why.

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 Day Three
One of the key scriptures for this series is 1 Corinthians 16:13–14:
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all
that you do be done in love.” This passage can be separated into five
key phrases, each loaded with meaning.

1. Write a brief description of what you think each phrase means

and why it is important for you.

Be watchful

Stand firm in the faith

Act like men

Be strong
Stepping into a
challenging family
Let all that you do be done in love situation is an act
of courage. Foster
dads, stepdads,
and adoptive
2. Of these five phrases, which relates most to where you are in
fathers have unique
life right now?
struggles to their
roles, but stepping
in offers a child
guidance altering
their life forever.
It’s interesting that one of the directives Paul wrote to the church Consider Joseph,
in Corinth was to “act like men.” This is about as literal as you can the father (or is it
translate the Greek wording (the language in which most of the stepfather) of
New Testament was written). The same word is also used to speak Jesus, who stepped
of a person “conducting oneself in a courageous way.”3 The word in to love and claim
inherently involves courage. A man is most manly when he is Jesus as his son.
facing his fears, bowing up his chest, and acting courageously. If May God bless you
you were writing the same phrase today, you might say, “Be a man,” for being, like
or even, “Man up!” Joseph, a hero by
choice.
Paul was telling the Corinthians to act like men because of what was
occurring in the church: sexual immorality, bickering, division, and —RON L. DEAL,
favoritism. Part of his role in the church was to call men up to act in The Smart Stepdad 4
accordance with the Scripture.

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 3. Have you ever challenged a guy to “man up”? What were the
circumstances? How did it turn out?

4. If you could take a mulligan in how you challenged him, how

would you handle it differently now?

5. Think of someone you know who needs to “act like a man.” If he were
to come to you today and ask for advice, what would you tell him?

6. How could 1 Corinthians 16:13–14 be used to help guide him

closer to the meaning of manhood?

Man in the Mirror

Now that we’re doing pretty well giving others advice, let’s turn to the
mirror. If you were to ask, “Who’s the manliest of them all?” and the
answer came back negatory, nyet, nein, or nada for numero uno, what
would you do? What advice would you give yourself?

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 7. How would you tell yourself to “man up”?

8. Has anyone ever challenged you to "man up"? How did they
challenge you and how did you respond?

The Next Step

One of the goals of this workbook is to help you develop a plan for
“stepping up” in some key areas of your life, a plan for taking the next
step. In order to do that, this book will guide you through identifying
and capturing those thoughts in each session.

+8. Thinking about the theme of this session, in what one area do
you need to be more courageous? Read the list below and check
all that apply, or write in your own.

 Taking on a project  Getting in shape

 Confessing a sin pattern  Confronting someone
 Overcoming an addiction  Leading my family
 Making a tough decision  Ending a relationship
 Following through on  Finishing my work well
a project  Showing up on time
 Coming clean  Following my dreams
 Other:

+9. What has been robbing you of courage or keeping you from
showing courage in these areas?

 Fear of failing  Concern about what

 Apathy or passivity others might think
 Lack of information  Wrong timing
 Seems too risky  The wishes of others
 Cowardice  Other:

10. What action can you take this week to display courage?

+11. Whom do you need to talk with about this, either to learn
from them or to ask for advice, as well as their support and
accountability?

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 +Your Stepping Up Plan

You probably noticed that some questions are preceded by a + symbol.

Your answers to these particular questions will be used to develop
your Stepping Up Plan (SUP), which can be found in the back of this
workbook. Take out your SUP now and do the following:

1. Identify the area of your life where you most need to display
courage (refer to your answer to question 8 in today’s lesson).
Transfer your answer to the Courage section on your SUP.

2. Name one individual whose courage you admire and with

whom you would like to talk about developing more courage in
your life (refer to question 11 in today’s lesson). Write that
name in the Courage section on your SUP.

3. What robs you of courage? You were asked that question today
(question 9). Even if you checked more than one “courage
robber,” select the one that gives you the most trouble and write
it in the Courage section on your SUP.

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