Skip to main content

Ashamed

             For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16) 

Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:26) 

Some think of themselves as serving God and Christianity by posting challenges on Facebook to prove you’re not ashamed of the gospel or of Jesus Christ. I’ve shared my opinion of these self-styled Inquisitors, who think they have not just a right, but a responsibility to wander the wastelands of Facebook, exposing everyone they deem unworthy of the name “Christian” on the basis of those people’s unwillingness to improve the Facebooks stats of the Inquisitor.

But – there are verses like the two above. What are we to do with them? The passage in Romans is from the beginning of the letter in which Paul carefully lays out who he is and the reasoning of his teachings about Jesus Christ. At the time, the Jews were taught that the one who hangs on a tree/pole is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:23.) Romans were taught that the worst of criminals were crucified. Jesus was a comparative nobody in terms of social position. Those who followed him admitted that he had been crucified. He’d lost any battle that would have given him the right to be worshipped.

The context for the quote from Luke can be found in Matthew 16:21-28. It’s the passage in which Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes him for predicting his own death. Could it be that Peter’s rebuke found its roots in Peter being ashamed somehow? I don’t know, but it was a common belief that the Messiah would defeat the Romans and set the Jews free, so if Jesus wasn’t going to do that – did Peter think that maybe he’d bet on the wrong savior?

The question of whether we are ashamed of Jesus or the gospel is important. But what does it mean to be ashamed? Technically, it means: “embarrassed or guilty because of one's actions, characteristics, or associations; reluctant to do something through fear of embarrassment or humiliation.” So if you refuse to respond according to those Inquisitors and their posted demands because you’re embarrassed to be known to be a Christian, there’s a problem. If you refuse to respond the way they want because they are being underhanded and exploitative, it’s another. If you hide the fact that you’re a Christian to keep a job or a friendship, there’s a problem, but that doesn’t mean you have to step through every door, strike a pose and proclaim, “Hey, everyone, I’m here, and I’m a Christian!”

And, there’s something more important that we need to remember when we hear these Inquisitors whisper their dire threats about the destiny of anyone ashamed of Christ or the cross. Jesus forgave Peter, and Peter later did great work on behalf of the Savior had denied.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more