The Courage from Hope
It’s been said that courage is not the absence of fear but the resolve to keep going despite the fear. I remember seeing a quote to that effect years ago, and if I remember correctly, it was attributed to former NBA coach Pat Riley. I’m not sure whether it started with Riley or not, but the sentiment is still felt today — and probably repeated by more than a few coaches. Courage is seen as a kind of doggedness that keeps going even when the circumstances are grim. That is a true description of courage, but it’s also inadequate, at least if we’re talking about Christian courage. Christian courage, or real courage, does more.
The late Tim Keller targets this in a sermon he preached exactly ten years ago today. It’s titled “The Gospel and Courage” (recently highlighted here by Tony Reinke). Referring to a scene from The Lord of the Rings, Keller builds on two categories of courage established by Tolkien, courage from defiance and courage from hope. The whole excerpt (and sermon) is worth hearing, but in summary, here’s the gist:
In defiance, courage stems from looking at yourself. It’s about what you will do in response to the circumstances that you find undesirable. You don’t like the way things are and you’re fed up with it. In hope, though, courage is what rises up when you look away from yourself to what could be — to what will be when God’s kingdom comes and his will is done here on earth as it is in heaven. Courage from defiance is resistance, but courage from hope is reformation. Defiance retreats and holds its territory against surrounding destruction; hope advances and extends its restorative influence. Both are strategic at different times, but the courage from hope speaks a better word.
The Difference Matters
And the differences here matter for how we live as Christians in this world, especially as the month of June is nearly upon us with its flaunting of destructive ideology and behavior. We’re now at the point where Target is sending the message that “heteronormativity is a plague”, but we believe it’s God’s design, and that it’s actually good and necessary for human flourishing. And while we might be done shopping at Target, which takes courage, we know that we’re called to more — to actually building something — which takes the courage from hope. We want to follow Jesus and understand his realness in every sphere of life — in our homes, in our church, and in our world. We want strong marriages and faithful children, and we want to deeply understand, increasingly live, and prophetically communicate the gospel to everyone we can for as long as we can — and we want to do it as the happiest people on earth.
As Keller puts it, or really, improves it: “real courage is not the absence of fear but the presence of joy.” That is the fruit of Christian hope.
For more on what we can learn from Tolkien about hope, check out Matt Crutchmer’s excellent lecture, “Hope Beyond the Walls of the World: J.R.R Tolkien and Christian Virtue.”
