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Reasons why they are ashamed of Jesus and His word in modern times.
Today, the membership of Christianity has diversified greatly in that people from all classes of society have joined the church – kings, queens, monarchs, emperors, professors, graduates, the affluent, the poor, etc., yet Christians still face the temptation of being ashamed of Jesus Christ. The reasons are:
1. Widespread Immorality
All kinds of immorality such as promiscuity, lasciviousness, nudity, provocative dress, sex before marriage, etc. have become the accepted way of life of a great number of both men and women to the extent that Christians who pursue the path of righteousness look odd in the society. Better said, immorality is so widespread that it appears as though those who live in holiness have missed the way.
Moreover, this corrupt generation ridicules the path of righteousness and the followers thereof, tempting some Christians to be ashamed of Jesus. They express their shame for Jesus by being reluctant to live their lives in obedience to the teachings of Jesus for fear of looking odd, being ridiculed, or hated in society.
2. Science and technology
In modern times, though Christianity is the leading religion, the world has veered a lot away from religion and religious ideologies to science and technology. Anything that is not based on scientific analysis and cannot be proved by science is disregarded. Christian viewpoints on the origin of the universe, the creation of man, and generally about issues of the world, are viewed as unscientific and disregarded as myths. The circular scientific views are widely accepted and followed than Christian views. Presently, Evolution science and the Big Bang theory are the most widely accepted viewpoints taught in academia as the explanation for the origin of the universe and the origin of life and humanity.
The Bible says God created the world with wisdom; discovering this wisdom is what we call science. We could have easily married Christianity and science if it had not been for some evil men who interrupted. Evil men have managed to widen the gap between science and Christianity and have corrupted science profoundly by adding some theories that have not been proven since. Science alone does not have answers to all the events, problems, sicknesses, etc. of man. Jesus has always been in the business of solving problems that science and its application, technology, can not solve, for many who were declared mad, impotent, dead or dying, barren, etc. have been saved from this bad state of health by Jesus. So which of these should you rather be proud of, Christ or science and technology?
I used to share the word of God on a Facebook group page. Then certain members of the group who were atheists tried to induce me to feel ashamed of my religion by attacking the Scriptures and saying that the story of Adam and Eve was a fable for since when did snakes learn to talk? Anyway, the snake that talked was possessed by a spiritual being called Satan; hence it was able to talk. However, atheists have always hidden behind science to sell their own false explanation of the origin of the universe which is called the Big Bang Theory. What happened before the Big Bang? How did it happen? Who caused it to happen? These are questions left unanswered. Because most of the things we Christians believe in are not scientific and cannot be proved scientifically, some Christians are intimidated to be ashamed of their faith and the doctrines thereof, which should not be so. Christianity is a spiritual matter, and spiritual matters are out of the scope of science and are way above science.
3. Pride
The membership of Christianity has diversified greatly. God has elevated some Christians to become political leaders, government officials, rich people, etc. Sometimes blessings of this kind do not translate to thanksgiving to God, rather, they deceive the hearts of Christians. Prosperity and high social status deceive the heart of Christians to feel self-sufficient and self-dependent to the point where they are ashamed to let people know that they trust in Christ and it is God who has elevated them to where they are. Their high level of education and or their academic excellence deceive them into thinking that it is not smart of them to be following Jesus or to be keeping the teachings of the Bible.
Some Christians consider their social status and feel that they have belittled themselves so much to be still serving the Lord; hence they are ashamed to partake in spiritual activities such as attending church service, fasting, praying, etc. An unbeliever once said that Christianity was for the weak – where the weak means people who rely on God for help. Some professing Christians think or feel the same; they are ashamed to rely on the Lord and to make others know how much they rely on God for their protection, prosperity, etc.
4. Love for the things of the world
In 1 John 2:15-16 Christians are warned not to love the world and the things in the world. To love the things in the world in the context of 1 John 2:15 refers to desiring, following, and having the evil things that this corrupt world has to offer to its followers. Examples of things in the world are indecent fashion, worldly music, pornography, etc. As a Christian begins to show love for the things of the world, his love for the things of God declines profoundly and he rather begins to be ashamed of Christ and the things of God.
When a Christian loves to sing, play, or listen to worldly music, he becomes ashamed to sing, play, listen, and dance to Christian music. When a Christian slips into the habit of indecent dressing, his or her love for decency and modesty declines, and he or she becomes ashamed of the Christian value of modesty. If a Christian lapses into attending worldly concerts, night clubs, etc. he becomes ashamed to attend church services.
If a Christian befriends worldly people, he will feel ashamed of being in friendship with Jesus and conducting himself as a Christian, because by doing so he will not fit into his worldly friendship; etc. The more a Christian loves the world and the things thereof, the more he becomes ashamed of Christ and the path of righteousness.
Why are unbelievers ashamed of Jesus and His word?
An Arab is born and raised a Muslim. This makes him ashamed of Jesus; that is, he is reluctant to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior because of the fear of disappointing his family and his acquaintances; more so, he would face the strong disapproval of his family and the Muslim world at large. Most Indians are born and raised in Hinduism, and this sets them to be ashamed of Jesus: they are reluctant to accept Jesus for fear of being ridiculed and facing the disapproval of their families, friends, and neighbors. Religious, cultural, and ethnic background is one strong factor that makes unbelievers ashamed of Jesus and Christianity.
The unbelievers, consciously or unconsciously, expect Christians to put up a higher moral standard; this is so because Jesus made Christians understand that they are the light and the whole world is watching them. The bad examples of some Christians make the unbeliever feel ashamed of Christianity; that is, he is unwilling to accept Christ and Christianity because the sinful deeds of some Christians have tarnished the image of Christ and have made Christianity appear worthless in their eyes.
The unbeliever and the Christian are not on the same pinnacle. What we regard as true sounds irrational to unbelievers. Oftentimes, when the unbeliever hears the gospel of Jesus, he cannot make any sense of it because he is not spiritually enlightened; hence, he disregards the word as a foolish thing. And of course, he would be ashamed of the word, for it would feel like he is making a dumb of himself to believe in something that does not make any sense to him; hence, his unbelief. The Bible says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).”