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The meaning of being ashamed of Jesus’ word
What is Jesus’ word? Jesus’ word is nothing other than the word of God. The word of God is any writing or speech inspired by God. Therefore the Bible stands out as the word of God for the holy men who contributed to its writing were inspired by God.
One day Jesus called the people and His disciple to Him and taught them about what it takes to follow Him. As part of His sermon,
Jesus Christ said, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38).”
Being ashamed of Jesus Christ is one thing and being ashamed of His word is another thing, though they are similar, they are not the same. Every professing Christian claims to love Jesus, but the way and manner each Christian treats His word is different. To be ashamed of Jesus’ word or the word of God can be explained in different ways:
1. Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to live in obedience to God’s word
To be ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to live in obedience to the word of God. And being ashamed to live in obedience to God’s word is the situation in which you are unwilling to live by God’s word because of the fear of ridicule, disapproval, and embarrassment. What is it like to be ashamed of living by the word of God?
I remember the life of King Hezekiah. King Hezekiah was a good king, no doubt. And God was also good to him so much that he made Hezekiah prosper greatly. But when Hezekiah prospered, he became proud and displeased the Lord. However, he repented and the punishment of God turned from him (2 Chronicles 32:25-26). It is sad to say that when some Christians are blessed by God to attain higher education, higher social status, and riches they stumble and fall into pride just like King Hezekiah. And when pride sets in, it misleads Christians to feel too smart, or too high, or too big, or too wise to be guided by God’s word. Those Christians who fall into pride are deceived by it to feel that by studying the Bible and obeying its teachings, they have belittled themselves too much. Hence, they are ashamed to seek God’s word, let alone obey it.
When your love for God grows cold, it, inevitably, leads to being ashamed of God’s word. In the lives of some Christians, their love for God is like electricity. Sometimes there is high voltage and sometimes, low voltage. Similarly, at some point, some Christians show high spiritual zeal and enthusiasm for God and the things of God. But they do not retain this state forever or for long. Sooner or later, their love for God fluctuates, then their zeal and devotion subsides considerably, and they tend to feel embarrassed to live in obedience to God’s word. They tend to drift toward accepting circular opinions and practices over biblical teachings. When you see yourself or other Christians in this situation, the underlying reason is that their love for God has grown cold, inducing them to be ashamed of the very word of God which they had once adhered to.
The quest to fit in: the world is corrupt by far. All sorts of ungodliness are generally accepted, glorified, and promoted by the world – where the world refers to all ungodliness and anything that causes sin and all people who love and practice unrighteousness. As the days go by, the devil uses such things as circular music and movies, indecent fashion, etc. to lure some Christians to drift more and more into friendship with the world. And such Christians who befriend the world, inevitably, forgo obedience to God’s word, for they feel embarrassed to keep the word of God and pursue the righteousness thereof lest they cannot fit in or lest they cannot be accepted by the world.
Immorality is so widespread in all levels of society to a very great extent, making those who love and keep the word of God look odd. In the classrooms, on campuses, in the workplaces, in the communities, and in the country, some Christians feel ashamed to live in obedience to God’s word, but they rather identify with the world in deeds and in beliefs contrary to the word of God. They do so because they do not want to be the odd ones out and become victims of ridicule and mockery.
2. Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to proclaim God’s word
To be ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed of proclaiming the word of God. And being ashamed of proclaiming the word of God means being unwilling to proclaim the word of God because of the fear of embarrassment, ridicule, hatred, and meeting the disapproval of others. Examples of being ashamed to proclaim the word of God:
I have seen some Christians who claim to love the Lord and this love is expressed in their regular attendance to church, paying tithe, etc. However, they hardly preach the gospel to unbelievers to win them for Christ. Why? They feel shy to do so or they feel embarrassed to do so. Some Christians are misled by pride to feel too big to partake in evangelism to win souls for Christ. Hence, on their own, they do not do any personal evangelism; online, they hardly share God’s word via social networks; and in the church, they often count themselves out anytime the church undertakes outreach programs such as street evangelism, crusades, etc.
Some Christians are so proud because of their high social status, education, and wealth to such an extent that they think they have belittled themselves too much to go out to the perishing unbeliever and speak kindly of God’s love in a bid to convert them to Christianity.
It is God who decides morality – what is good and what is bad. And God has made these good moral values known through His word, the Bible. Therefore the best and the only reference point for correcting, advising, and teaching, both the young and the adult, good moral values is the Bible. However, some Christians are unwilling to correct the mistakes of others – their friends, their siblings, their children, etc. – by proclaiming the word of God to them to put them on the right path because of the fear that they would take offense.
3. Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to let others know that the good deeds you do are inspired by the teachings of the Bible.
Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being unwilling and feeling embarrassed to let others know that it is the teachings of the Bible that have shaped your life and made you a better person who is influencing society positively.
Some Christians are living right, doing good, helping others, and making the world a better place. However, their good deeds do not bring any glory to God. For they feel ashamed to let the world know that the good things they do are inspired by God’s word. They feel embarrassed to make others know that they are the good people they are because they follow the teachings of the Bible. They rather credit themselves with their good deeds, for they make it look like the good things they do is from themselves – from their own humane nature or from their own sense of morality.
4. Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to accept or believe in the gospel.
Being ashamed of Jesus’ word could mean being ashamed to believe in the word of God. Being ashamed to believe in the word of God means being reluctant to accept or believe in the gospel because of the fear of embarrassment, ridicule, and disapproval. Unbelievers are guilty of being ashamed of God’s word in this way.
Not all people think highly of the gospel as we Christians do. For some unbelievers, the gospel we believed unto salvation does not make any sense to them at all for they do not see how and why the death of Jesus which occurred many centuries ago can bring salvation to those in this modern times. More so, they do not even understand salvation, neither do they appreciate it nor see the need for it. That is why the Bible says:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
For those unbelievers who, upon hearing the gospel, count it as foolishness, they are unwilling to believe in the gospel for they feel embarrassed to believe in something they regard as foolishness; also, they are unwilling to believe in the gospel in order to avoid being mocked and ridiculed by other people who share a similar mentality; and they are unwilling to believe in the gospel because they think they would make a fool of themselves to do so.
Conclusion
Both Christians and unbelievers do become guilty of being ashamed of Jesus’ word. Mind you, Jesus Christ made sure to call the attention of His disciples and other people who were not His disciples when He was talking about being ‘ashamed of my word’ in His sermon. This is because both of them can commit the sin of being ashamed of God’s word.