Shameless

Romans 1:16-17;

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:  “The righteous will live by faith.”

A couple of nights ago I wrote No Religion about how what we really have is a relationship, not religion.  Last night, as I sat in the hospital with my wife waiting to see if we can finally figure out what is going on with her, I started reading No More Christian Nice Guy; When Being Nice–Instead of Good–Hurts Men, Women, and Children by Paul Coughlin.  The premise behind the book is that in today’s society, men have forgotten what it means to be “men”.  And it’s the same in our churches.  What we pass off as nice or humble is often a misrepresentation of what we are actually called to be.  Coughlin states, “Somehow we have mistaken niceness for righteousness, when the Bible says that the righteous are as bold as lions.”

I think these two ideas are represented well by the words of Paul from Romans above.  You see, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, or the idea of a personal relationship with Christ.  That is what Christianity is all about~a personal, growing relationship with Christ, the savior of he world!  How can we be weak with that idea?  Society has tried to take our hope and strength away from us.  How can we sit by and either never proclaim our relationship to others or do so in such a way that it seems weak and powerless.  Paul tells us that, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:  ‘The righteous will live by faith'”.

We should not be afraid to share our faith.  In fact OUR FAITH should empower us and we should not be able to keep it in.  Jesus never promises that this will be easy, but He does give us an even better promise.  The last part of Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  This is Jesus’ promise to us if we are willing to tell others about how great our relationship with Him is.  Be bold because the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes!