Bold

We can be motivated to speak up on behalf of those who face hostility because of their commitment to 
Christ and remember there are believers around the world that are being mistreated because of their faith in Him. Jesus teaches in Luke chapter 6:
22 Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake.
23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

It can become so easy to become discouraged in this world.  And, consider those who are facing persecution simply because they are Christians, who want to practice their faith in freedom, yet are being regarded as a threat.  Why are Bible-believing Christians such a threat?  Perhaps it's because they are connected to the greatest power in the universe - their God stands in opposition to the god of this world, and there are people who, in their humanity, will reject the ways of God.  They reject and revile, but, as Jesus said, we can rejoice.

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We can be aware of the opposition to the ways of God that is expressed in the world today.  2nd 
Timothy 3 states:
10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,
11 persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra--what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Two years ago, Jim Caviezel, who played the role of Luke in the movie, Paul, Apostle of Christ, as well as the role of Jesus in the film, The Passion of the Christ, turned heads at the premiere of the Paul movie when he spoke boldly against Christian persecution.  According to the National Religious Broadcasters website:

A video interview with actor Jim Caviezel is going viral on Facebook, and leaders in the faith community are rallying behind it, pointing to the hashtag #SaveThePersecutedChristians.

Captured at the U.S. premiere of Caviezel’s latest movie, Paul, Apostle of Christ, in Dallas on Tuesday, the clip features the actor’s response to Richard Manning, a columnist for The Hill, who asked Caviezel how American Christians should respond to Christian persecution around the world as Easter approaches.“We gotta, as Christians, start not being afraid,” said Caviezel. “Every man dies. Not every man really lives.”

The actor also said, “There are a lot of people out there right now that need our help, and as Christians we need to stop being afraid of that.”

Recently, the actor has been speaking on the subject again, telling Billy Hallowell in his Edifi podcast, according to ChurchLeaders.com:

Caviezel challenged his listeners not to be apathetic about injustice and not to deceive themselves or others about who they are truly following. “The way God sees us is who we really are,” he said, and God will bring the truth to light eventually. “Many of us are playing Judas,” said the actor, “Many of us are playing the Pharisees. And it will come when we have to face God, and it will come, even to non-believers…And we don’t get to see ourselves the way we want to see ourselves anymore.”

Caviezel was speaking about his film, Infidel, which will premiere in theatres on September 18.  The article describes the general plot of the film:

After an American man is invited to speak on national television in Cairo, Egypt, he gets kidnapped and is held captive in Tehran. When the U.S. government does nothing to save him, his wife goes to Iran to save him.

The film, while not based on a specific true story, is nevertheless “thinly disguised truth” and portrays real injustices people have suffered in the Middle East.

About his character, Caviezel says, “I love this character...because he stands up for what he believes in, and that is something that is lacking today in this world’s cancel culture…people want to be liked so badly.”  And, in the interview, the actor called for Christians to exercise their boldness. The article concludes by saying:

We need to be on guard against being complacent about atrocities and injustices in our own country as well, said Caviezel, specifically mentioning the “barbarism of abortion.” Being apathetic toward such wrongs is not how God wants us to live as his people. The actor hopes his latest film will encourage believers to stand up for what is right, no matter the consequences, no matter the tyranny of cancel culture. “You know a tyrant when you’re not allowed to speak your truth,” he said. “We as Christians have to be bold and speak the truth.”

Here are a few points to consider: 

Jesus taught that those who want to live godly will encounter persecution.  There are varying degrees of persecution, but we have to recognize that popularity and pleasing people are not spiritual gifts.  We will not always be liked when we express Biblical truth, but we are called to please a heavenly power not of this world.

We can also empathize with those who live with the possibility of death every single day because of their faith. We can also be mindful of those who are not allowed to freely worship God, whether it is in another country, or as we're seeing during the COVID-19 crisis, in our own land.

Finally, we can be reminded that each of us has a role to play in displaying the truth of God.  We can do that, as Caviezel reminds us, with boldness and with passion.  We are not called to apathy, but to a fervency to proclaim Christ.