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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.

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