Be Fearless In a Fearful Culture
(Excerpt from a 2025 graduation speech delivered by Ryan Bomberger, cofounder of Radiance Foundation)
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Courage doesn’t always makes sense, in the natural. Why would you risk your reputation? Why would you risk your popularity? Why would you risk losing your job and your income? Why would you risk fighting a giant?
Do you know the sound a giant makes when it falls? David did. While others were cowering in fear, David rushed in. The warriors around him thought he was cRaZy! Who in their right mind brings some stones to a sword fight???
Frederick Douglass, a courageous abolitionist, battled the evil of slavery and the giant media establishment that wouldn’t tell the truth about slavery. Doing so, regardless of your color, could get you killed. He started his own newspaper called The North Star in Rochester, New York. The periodical’s slogan was so powerful and so relevant to today: “Right is of no sex—Truth is of no color—God is the father of us all, and all we are brethren.” Douglass risked his life in pursuit of something far greater— saving others’ lives.
When our organization, The Radiance Foundation, received a Cease and Desist Letter from the NAACP which demanded we remove a national OpEd calling out their radical pro-abortion position and actions, I immediately thought of two things: Douglass’ quote and Alliance Defending Freedom. Douglass said in his speech about the Fugitive Slave Law Act of 1850: “The man who is right is a majority. He who has God and conscience on his side, has a majority against the universe.”
So, we weren’t going to cower like some of those Israelites. We started picking up some smooth stones. Oh, and we emailed Alliance Defending Freedom, you know, because we needed that God-powered sling to aim for the enemies’ head. We literally had no money. NAACP had millions. It all made no natural sense. But God always makes a way.
We fought in federal court for two very long years. We lost at the first federal court and then appealed at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. Even some of the conservative justices smeared us during the public court hearing. Oh, did I mention that when you serve Christ, you’ll be hated? But all the justices voted unanimously in our favor. We won the free speech case against the NAACP!
What happens when you’re tested by fire? Do you crumble into ash, or stand like Daniel or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo? Many of us know the story: Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke! Will you be burned by fear or stand firm in the fire?
Fear is a liar. And it can prevent us from receiving God’s promise of a future and a hope. And each of you have incredible futures waiting for you to fearlessly step into it all with the greatest Hope imaginable—Jesus Christ.
Remember, as you navigate the hills and valleys, twists and turns of life, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 is a great guide for the journey: “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love.” Everything. In life, you will be faced with many moments challenging you to stand up or step aside. As Christians, we’re not given the spirit of fear, so we’re called to speak up and stand up…even if you’re the only one in a sea of apathy, activism, and/or animosity.
So graduates, with all that you have and will achieve going forward, nothing matters more than what you do for the Lord, because as the Word declares: nothing you do in the Lord is ever in vain. Nothing. Each and every one of you is a masterpiece. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Go on and do what you were created to do.
Courage doesn’t need a crowd, just someone with conviction.
