Fool!

              Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

To scorn shame means to say, “I will refuse to allow standards that are inappropriate, that are incorrect, that are unworthy, to be the measuring stick by which other people assess my worth as a human being.” (John Ortberg) (https://becomenew.subspla.sh/krz8cfy)

Normally, when we look at this passage, it’s about everyone watching them, and therefore, they’d better throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. They need to run with perseverance…fixing their eyes on Jesus… Yeah, no pressure at all!

And it’s not that those phrases aren’t important, but today’s focus is a little later in the passage, and the phrase scorning the shame. This was the topic of the podcast quoted above. The Romans meant crucifixion to be the most painful (excruciating) death possible, but it was also humiliating. It was reserved for the worst of criminals, both in terms of their crime and their social status. But God used it specifically because of that to glorify His Son.

I suspect that saying that we live in a culture of shame is inaccurate. I’m not sure there was ever an age or people who didn’t have a culture of shame. And that’s not entirely negative. A sense of shame involving standards that are appropriate, correct, and worthy is healthy. The problem is that the standards today are generally inappropriate, incorrect, unworthy, and toxic.

If we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, we need to learn from Him to evaluate the attempts of others (and our own) to shame us. If the standards don’t fit Scripture, Jesus taught us to scorn them. Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem. He refused to shrink away. The image that comes to mind is that when the standards don’t fit Scripture, we’re welcomed, and even encouraged, to walk up to the “shame” as if to a dog and pet it, or to welcome it to come in and have a cup of tea. Put at its bluntest, we’re welcome to wallow in the “shame.” People might call us “shameless,” but the whole point is that standards that aren’t Scriptural should have no control over us.

We must put this idea together with two others. The first is Love. The second is Truth. The person isn’t the enemy. The idea is. But the thing about scorning (or perhaps shaming) shame is that we have to start where we are. That means we are likely to feel self-conscious or even ashamed when we begin. If we practice, we’ll get better at it. And that will add to the cloud of witnesses, and we won't care if they call us "Fool!"