PEOPLE Magazine relays the details of the Emmy Award acceptance speech of actress Alex Borstein in 2019 as she paid homage to her grandmother "who barely survived the Holocaust.":
Alex Borstein took home the Emmy for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series ... Borstein paid respect to her grandmother, who barely survived the Holocaust. "I want to dedicate this to the strength of a woman ... She was in line to be shot into a pit and she said, 'What happens if I step out of line?' .... And he said, 'I don't have the heart to shoot you but somebody will.' ... And she stepped out of line." ... Because of her grandmother's decision, she is here and her children are here, she said. "So, step out of line, ladies," she said. "Step out of line."
For video of the speech, click here and navigate to minute 2:10.
While the emphasis of her speech was decidedly to encourage women, specifically, to be brave, to be bold, the story is universal in its application.
There will be times in life when our backs are up against the wall (or our feet are at the edge of a pit with a gun pressed to our back). In those moments, don't let the world and its values (or lack thereof) run roughshod over you. Don't cower before those who persecute, abuse, or bully you.
Be bold. Be brave. Dare to "step out of line."
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4, ESV).
"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Corinthians 1:7, ESV).
An Evangelism Explosion survey of 1002 Americans conducted by Lifeway Research in December 2021 found an alarming disparity between unbelievers’ openness to talking about spiritual things and Christians’ willingness to actually speak about them.*
Some key takeaways from the survey are as follows:
“This study reveals that most Americans are open to talking about faith,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
But the sad, sorry realization is that the conversation is simply not happening as often as it ought.
Why is that? Can we blame cancel culture? The current war on Christianity? Closed mindedness on the part of the masses? New restrictions on religious liberty?
“It really isn’t about religious liberty, people not wanting to hear, or religion being off-limits. The reason conversations are not happening about the Christian faith is that Christians are not bringing it up.”
“Now, perhaps more than ever, people are open to conversations about faith [A whopping 32% of respondents said that since COVID, they are MORE open to talking about spiritual things], yet few Christians actually take the opportunity to engage in personal evangelism,” says Dr. John B. Sorensen, President and CEO of Evangelism Explosion International.
At a time when “one in 5 religiously unaffiliated Americans (20%) say they are more interested in spiritual matters,” it is heartbreaking to find that some 60% report that their “friends who claim to be Christians rarely talk about their faith.”
*About 38% of respondents were identified as already having some measure of Christian belief.
It’s hard to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” when we can’t seem to open our mouths to speak to our neighbors and friends. How can we close our lips when he has “commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42).
“For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Cor. 9:16 ESV)
When God came to Gideon, He called him a warrior. Gideon didn't see himself as a warrior. In fact, he said he was from the weakest clan and he was the least of his clan. Gideon also questioned God's ability to work in his life. He wanted to know why God had abandoned them. He wanted to know where all the wonders were that his fathers had told him about.
Many people are just like Gideon. They see themselves as weak and of little value. They often ask "Why did this happen to me?" or "Where was God when I needed him?" But God didn't see him as weak or of little value. God called him a warrior.
Never underestimate something because it seems to be small. David's bothers underestimated him, but the guy who underestimated him the most was Goliath, and he lost his life.
How can something or someone so small be so powerful?
It's like the movie Lion King when Simba was a Cub and the hyenas had him cornered. When he roared, they laughed at him. So he roared again, only this time they cower down and whimper. Why? Because Simba had someone backing him up--when he roared, Mufasa roared behind him.
It doesn't matter how small or weak you are, as long as you have someone big and strong backing you up. Gideon was a warrior because God had his back.
"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).