What can Friedrich Nietzsche teach Christians about Courage?

Courage is necessary for leadership.  You have to be able to make difficult decisions and take risks.  A leader without courage is not going to be leading much of anything after a while.  This is true in the realms of business, religion and family too.  You need to have courage.

There are many kinds of courage but I want to focus in on two of them with the help of Friedrich Nietzsche.  Nietzsche is commonly known in Christian circles as the philosopher with the big mustache who declared, “god is dead.”  Though that quote of his is often taken out of context that is not why I am bringing him up.  In one of his essays, The Pale Criminal, he talks about two kinds of courage; the courage of the knife and courage of the blood.  His ideas on courage here are important for us to have in mind as we reflect on leadership and decision making.