A PILGRIM'S COURAGE

Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory. Allegories endeavor to communicate a central idea. What is the chief aim of the book? To show various portraits of progress on the pathway of faith!

To measure the progress, names play a prominent role in the narrative. Characters are given titles that generally fit into two categories: helpful qualities (good) and hurtful qualities (bad). Lying within these categories are thoughts of right and wrong—qualities are portrayed as black or white, without any gray in between.

Recently, the group looked at the contrast of PASSION and PATIENCE, passion being hurtful and patience being helpful. The focus makes it easy to conclude that passion is bad and patience is good.

Is passion bad? One may think so by how the book uses the term. The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, however, was about passionately and powerfully communicating the message of Christ. Is that a bad passion?

Bunyan chose the word passion to communicate an idea, but his choice of that word can lean toward confusion. Passion is not a black and white scenario. If the book was written today, different words would fit the narrative better, such as CARNAL for passion and ENDURANCE for patience.

The author also used the name COURAGE to communicate a helpful component in the progress of faith. When reading about his description of courage, however, it does not take much imagination to envision a fierce Knight of antiquity waving a sword at an invisible force, a Don-Quixote-type hero lashing out at windmills. Is this an accurate portrait of courage? Should force define a modern-day sojourner’s courage? Would the phrase “daring perseverance” lead to a better understanding?

Matthew 11:12 was referenced, and rightfully so. Bunyan may have been thinking of this text when writing the narrative. The focus of the verse is the ministry of John the Baptist—the forerunner of the Messiah: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been coming violently, and the violent take it by force.” Would the Scripture passage be better served if violence and force were interpreted with words like zeal and fervor? Such as, “With the coming of the forerunner, the kingdom of heaven has been invaded with sinners who, by the zeal of their repentance, are fervently snatching it away from the Pharisees who thought it belonged to them alone.”

After the passionate ministry of John the baptizer came the Messiah. What is the portrait of courage for those who now follow Christ, those abiding in him and no longer yearning for his advent?

N. T. Wright, writing about the death of Jesus, shows a weakness in the typical understanding of forcefulness. Consider what actually happened on that Friday afternoon? A new sort of power was let loose upon the world, the power of self-giving love. This was the heart of the revolution launched on Good Friday. The usual sort of power cannot be defeated by using the usual sort of means. If one force overcomes another, it is still “force” that wins. The heart of the victory of God, over all the powers of the world, lies in self-giving love.

So, what attributes will bring us victoriously into tomorrow? What is the portrait of COURAGE since Golgotha, shown by self-giving love? What is the cross-bearing courage expected from his followers on their journey of faith? Its characteristics may be witnessed in a variety of ways, based on circumstances, but they are all rooted in resurrection love, new-life love. Courage has little to do with domination and has everything to do with the blessed hope. It is “the courage to face the consequences” of whatever the Spirit of God is asking of you, even unto death—rooted in the love of Christ, not in the scorn of humanity.

The model of “force” Bunyan describes and many Christ-followers choose to embrace needs tweaking, needs to be filtered through the lens of love, not empowered by the scope of dominance.