April 23, 2026

Young people today take fewer risks than ever before, and the root cause isn’t what you’d expect. It’s easy to blame smartphones, social media, or the disappearance of third spaces. But the deeper issue is something subtler, something more insidious.

In his most recent essay for The Keller Center, fellow Alan Noble identifies the malaise of inhibition: a creeping fear of acting, of being seen, of risking rejection or failure for the sake of something worth pursuing. But Alan doesn’t stop with diagnosis. He argues that our way out of inhibition is courage—the willingness to risk suffering for the sake of the good. Courage is a virtue we need in every facet of life. And when we choose to act courageously, we discover a life that brings glory to God.

MATT LIETZEN

Content Strategist

When we think about courageous people, we typically imagine first responders, soldiers, or people who shield children from the bullets of mass shooters. And of course, they are courageous. It takes great courage to risk your life for the sake of another.

But there are other kinds of courage.

In the modern West, most of us won’t be called on to literally risk our lives to save someone else, but we’ll still need the virtue of courage to live well as Christians. A mundane life is a courageous life. It takes courage to share the gospel in a hostile culture. It takes courage to choose a career. It takes courage to make friends. It takes courage to date and marry someone. It takes courage to be a parent. It takes courage to endure daily suffering.

A mundane life is a courageous life, one where each step of the day takes a little act of courage. Some days, it requires a large act of courage even to do what some consider a small task. For some of us, even getting out of bed can be an act of courage when depression or anxiety weighs us down.

What Courage Requires

According to Josef Pieper, a Thomas Aquinas scholar, courage is the act of risking suffering for the sake of the good. It requires vulnerability, which frightens us because our culture has taught us that suffering is inherently bad and must be avoided at all costs. Where there is suffering, the world offers us a product or service to cure, treat, numb, soothe, or solve it.

But suffering is part of life in a fallen world. And according to the apostle Paul, suffering produces perseverance, which leads to character and hope (Rom. 5:3–5). Accepting the reality of suffering and learning to suffer well is part of knowing how to live well as a Christian. And to suffer well means to suffer courageously. In our mundane lives, we must dare to risk suffering for the sake of the good.

What I mean by the “good” is glorifying God and enjoying him forever (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q&A 1). What that practically looks like in any particular situation will vary. For example, I risk the suffering of a rejection letter (a minor form of suffering) by applying for a job I desire because of the good of being able to glorify God in a new situation, provide for my family and bless others through my work.