Ashamed of Jesus?

"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ . . . " Romans 1:16

"in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body. . . " Philippians 1:20

The Apostle Paul penned both of the statements above. Let's think about who Paul was:

• His name was originally Saul. He was from a prestigious Jewish family .
• He studied in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, the leader of the Pharisees.
• He became part of the opposition to the newly formed church in Jerusalem.
• He was present at the death of Stephen.
• He was an active persecutor of the Jerusalem Church, entering its synagogues and arresting its members.
• The high priest entrusted him to travel to Damascus to arrest prominent members of the Jerusalem Church.
• On the way to Damascus, he experienced a vision of Jesus that converted him from persecutor to believer.
• His name was changed to Paul and he wrote a great deal of the New Testament and was called to reach the Gentiles (non Jewish people).

Paul had it all, power, money and rising fame. He had a great reputation among his Jewish peers. It would have been very easy to try to appease all his religious Jewish friends and also to please his new converted Gentile believers. But he stayed true to his faith in Jesus Christ.

Does this speak to you? Many of us act out our faith at church or at Bible studies, then we go back to work and school and follow a different crowd. Once again, am I speaking to anyone?

Sadly, this is the church in 2009. We are so compartmentalized that we justify being strong on church days and become weak on all of the other days. This is being "ashamed" of your faith. This is what Paul preached about in Rome before the politicians, in Greece before the philosophers and in Jerusalem before his former anti-Christian friends.

He was not "ashamed" of the gospel. He did not hide his faith when he was away from the church. He lived out his faith everyday and knew that in spite of being ridiculed as a "Jesus freak", his joy would be more compete.

Let me conclude by asking you some serious questions about your life:

1. Would a court of law find you guilty of following Jesus publicly every day of your life?
2. Do your friends, coworkers or classmates consider you a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ?
3. Are you proud of your faith?
4. Do you hide your faith?

These are tough questions. But we are instructed to "not be ashamed" of our faith. Think about it.

Blessings,

Jody Hinkle