Table of Contents
Consequences or dangers of being ashamed of Jesus
Once I read a story about a boy who was so ashamed of his mother because she had lost an eye. This boy was so embarrassed about his mother that he wished she would disappear; he did not want anyone to see or know that the one-eyed woman was his mother.
If person A is ashamed of person B, it means person A feels embarrassed that he is related or connected to person B. If you are ashamed of someone, you create the impression that that person is not worthy of you or that person does not deserve you.
This situation happens a lot in life: sometimes, for whatever reason, people tend to be ashamed of their mothers, their fathers, their friends, their siblings, or their grandparents, on and on, even to the extent that, sometimes, they are ashamed of Jesus Christ; the very person who can save mankind from sin, death, hell, and the wrath of God.
Before Jesus started talking about the subject of being ashamed of Him and His word, He made sure to call His disciples and other people who were not his disciples and He spoke to them. He did this because being ashamed of Jesus is not a sin common to only the unbeliever, neither is it a sin common to only the believer; both believers and unbelievers are capable of this sin.
There may be consequences that come with feeling ashamed of your parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. Also, we know for sure that there are consequences that come with feeling ashamed of Jesus Christ and His word. The consequences are:
1. Being ashamed of Jesus leads to unbelief
As of the year 2015, Christianity had approximately 2.3 billion adherents out of a worldwide population of about 7.5 billion people. Though Christianity is the dominant religion in the world at the time, having approximately 2.3 billion adherents, the rest of the population of the world are unbelievers, and the population of unbelievers far exceeds that of the believers. Why unbelievers? Is it that they have not heard the gospel?
Certainly, a lot of unbelievers have heard the gospel. But the situation is that not all people think highly of the gospel we Christians believe. For some unbelievers, the gospel we believed to salvation is complete nonsense, for they do not see how the traumatic death of a man on a cross, which occurred many centuries ago, can save a person. More so, they do not even understand salvation, neither do they appreciate it nor see the need for it. No wonder 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 such unbelievers who count the gospel as foolishness, they are unwilling to believe in the gospel. This is because they feel embarrassed to believe in something that sounds like nonsense to them, also they are unwilling to believe in the gospel lest they would be mocked and ridiculed by other people who share a similar mentality, and also they are unwilling to believe in the gospel and accept Jesus because they think they would make a fool of themselves to do so.
So right away we see that those unbelievers who count the gospel as nonsense and are ashamed of the gospel and Jesus become staunch unbelievers, still holding on to their unbelief; and unbelief is a damnable sin before the Lord. Jesus Christ has already foretold what shall become of all unbelievers, all those who have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior. He said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36)
Therefore, damnation awaits all unbelievers, especially those who heard the gospel and regarded it as foolishness and were ashamed to believe in it and to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
2. Being ashamed of Jesus alienates one from God
If you are in a relationship with someone and for whatever reason, you are ashamed of him and think he is not worthy of you, what happens is you keep your distance and remain cold toward him in an attempt to walk away from him. When you are ashamed of somebody you do not ever mention to anyone that he is your friend or relative; neither do you walk with him side by side, nor show that you have anything to do with him.
When you believed in the gospel to become a Christian, you were accepted into the family of God. And Jesus Christ, the begotten Son of God became your brother (Luke 8:21; Heb 2:11), and friend (John 15:14), etc. The Christian who is ashamed of Jesus Christ keeps His distance away from Him. He never says anything that suggests that He trusts in Jesus. He does not use phrases such as ‘God willing, by the grace of God, if God permits, etc.’ He does not take God into account in all his doings, nor appreciate him for anything.
Moreover, the life of such a person is not a good example of a follower of Jesus. He credits himself with his success story, and he does good deeds to bring glory to himself and not to God. God’s word is relegated to the background and he lives on his own opinions, whims, and desires. For such Christians, daily Bible studies, prayer, fasting, etc. are out of the question.
Considering the deeds, habits, and attitude of a Christian who is ashamed of Jesus and His word, you can see that, eventually, such a Christian distances himself from Jesus and he sets himself on the path to apostasy.
3. Jesus is ashamed of Christians who are ashamed of Him.
One thing I admire about Jesus Christ is that He tells the truth all the time and makes His intentions known. Jesus has already spoken His mind about Christians who are ashamed of Him and His word and have created the impression that He Jesus is not worthy of them. This is what Jesus has said about those Christians:
For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26).
It is Jesus who will decide whether a person shall inherit eternal life or not. Jesus has already decided that eternal life is promised to only His disciples (John 3:16; John 14:1-3; etc.). And Jesus is the one to tell who His disciples are. For those who were ashamed to identify themselves as true disciples of Jesus and His word on this earth; He too will be ashamed to count them as part of His disciples who shall inherit eternal life. Finally, those whom Jesus shall be ashamed of will end up in damnation like the unbelievers.
You cannot eat your cake and have it. If you are ashamed of Jesus and His word, why do you expect to receive or share in His salvation? And why would you expect to go to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus if you are ashamed of Him? Therefore, those Christians who, while living on earth, were ashamed of identifying themselves in words and deeds as disciples of Jesus should know for certain that they shall be denied eternal life.
Conclusion
Muhammed and all other religious leaders were people who were far from perfect, for they tainted themselves with many sins; whereas Jesus Christ was perfect and sinless. However, the followers of these religious leaders are so proud of them and follow them faithfully. So why should a Christian ever be ashamed of Jesus Christ and His word?