David Bahn – Reflections

Romans 3:27-31

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Braggadocio is an unincorporated community in Pemiscot County, Missouri. It is located eight miles west of Caruthersville. The community was founded in 1847 and according to Robert L. Ramsay, was named for the vainglorious knight and horse thief Sir Braggadoccio, in Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Now we know the what, but I have no idea just why a locale would claim that name. Perhaps it was given by someone wishing to belittle the community and its residents. I do remember my dad talking about Braggadocio; we must have driven through it sometime when I was a young boy.

Braggadocio is also a word that describes something like which it sounds: the annoying or exaggerated talk of someone who is trying to sound very proud or brave. Bravado comes also to mind, as does the word bluster. Off-putting to be sure.

Why would anyone employ such talk? Why would anyone put themselves forward in a boastful manner? The answer: unrepentant sin. Whenever we chart our own course apart from the ways of God, and miss the mark of his holy calling, and on top of that refuse to acknowledge our failings and faults, we show the true nature of our hearts. Such is foolishness to be sure, but it is driven by a self-justifying, prideful, arrogance that springs from a heart that is thoroughly corrupted by sin.

You can say it all you want: It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true. But even if it is true (Muhammad Ali may have been the greatest fighter of his day), such talk does not spring from a heart humbled by the truth of God’s law and set free by the Good News of Jesus’ redemption. Those who know that God is the ultimate judge, and believe that he has provided the means for us to face eternity with hope and confidence by means of his own Son don’t need to brag. We simply need to worship and praise his holy name.