THE COST OF COWARDICE.

It’s 2025. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no shortage of opinions and hot takes that fly across the internet and occasionally, our dinner tables. When we look at the surface of our societal landscape, it seems as though people are “braver” now more than ever. However, I can’t help but to suspect that today’s “bravery” is just a thin veneer covering something else. We, my friends, have a cowardice issue.

Raking our fingers across our keyboards and iPhones- lashing out insults- is hardly considered bravery. We’ve seen time and time again how people can peacock online, but shrink in person. There’s some 19 year-old kid in Palmdale, California sending racial epithets to a streamer 3,000 miles away. There is an angry stay at home mom online, mocking another woman for her choices. It is simply easy, not brave, to express mean, derogatory, hateful comments to others that we disagree with.

Americans, in particular, have developed a certain type of cruelty. We’ve adopted selective blindness- deciding when and where we’ll acknowledge others’ humanity. If they’re palpable to our notions of the “American way”, we can accept their humanity. If they’re an immigrant, we suddenly have no cognitive or emotional bandwidth to give them. We blind ourselves to the impact our hate has on others’ lives- their kids, their homes, their state of mind.  I’d argue that cruelty is a FORM of cowardice. Like stabbing someone in the back to avoid their eyes, it takes a certain level of disassociation to deny a person dignity. We’d have to deny that they too- the immigrant, the same-sex attracted, the single mom, the poor- are image bearers of Jesus Christ.

“Like stabbing someone in the back to avoid their eyes, it takes a certain level of disassociation to deny a person dignity.”

Secondly, we should consider what constitutes real bravery. I see politicians these days- posturing in front of cameras, while secretly hating their policies. I watch people jump through logistical hoops to avoid their blindspots and biases. Cash is exchanged. Souls are sold. From the pulpit to the boardroom, back door deals and power-plays seem to guide the principles of our most esteemed leaders. Their loyalty to social clubs, political parties, or cultural norms causes them to abandon their values and reasoning. 

Real courage is founded in our fidelity to curiosity and truth. It takes courage to be curious about other people’s point of view. It takes courage to listen to the “opposing sides” when we’d rather plant our heels into the ground. It takes bravery to stand up to opposition when you know the truth- when your friends are wrong, when values and virtues are foregone. We’ve lost our way. When we look at the life of Jesus, he sat with the outcasts, the lost, the downtrodden… AND NOT FROM A PLACE OF CONDESCENSION. He inquired of them. He listened to them. He even defended them.

Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Sometimes, we lose sight that God is with us. He’s with us when we read the triggering posts. He’s with us when we see injustice. He’s with us when we have to speak up in our own communities and families. When we lose sight that God Is our anchor, we’re disillusioned and begin to think that we do this on our own. It’s only natural to feel cornered, scared and angry. We have to tap into the Holy Spirit to give us the courage to listen before we speak and lean into the discomfort of our current times. Sometimes, the most courageous thing you can do is to love your neighbor as yourself.