Exalting God

I have recently returned to Paul’s letter to the Romans, as I read and study his words I cannot help but be encouraged and convicted.  I’m only in the first chapter, but Paul’s faith and boldness and passion and commitment to Christ are powerfully evident.  He tells the Roman Christian’s that he is “eager to preach the gospel”.  The obvious question for me involves my own eagerness, or perhaps the lack thereof.  It’s not really about words at this point, I have to examine my life and take stock of what my actions reveal.  Pride invites me to see one picture, humility and honest require me to see another.

As Paul continues, he states with clarity why he is so eager to preach the gospel of Christ: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16).  Paul learned by experience that the gospel is truly powerful.  Through it God severs the believer from the death grip of sin and judgment.  For this reason, Paul is proud to state with confidence and boldness that sinners can only be justified before God through faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice, for there is no other means of salvation.

Paul is going to spend a lot of time in Romans articulating the gospel, for surely we cannot find lasting fulfillment in something which we do not correctly understand.  For now, however, my mind is drawn to Paul’s eagerness.  Certainly it is easy to verbalize “I am not ashamed of the gospel”; I cannot remember meeting a Christian who would state the contrary.  I certainly would not say that I am ashamed of Christ, but on the other hand, perhaps I have said it time and time again in countless ways that seldom utilize words.  As I began to consider the many ways in which Christians can demonstrate that they are ashamed of the gospel, several actions came to mind.  As you think about the ones I mention below, let humility and honesty before Christ guide your response.

Do I possess a lack of desire to evangelize?

A fundamental indicator of our passion for Christ rests here – do you desire to tell others about Christ?  I emphasize desire because we all face difficult situations where we struggle to evangelize another person.  I am not convinced that we are genuinely ashamed of Christ simply because we may struggle at times to share the gospel with another person.  On the other hand, if we profess to be a Christian and have little or no desire to tell others about Him, what else can we assume? 

Do I possess a lack of desire to raise my children according to God’s Word?

Perhaps you attend church with the hope that your children will soak up good values along the way, but do little to demonstrate a vibrant faith before them at home.  Is it not rational to conclude that most if not all children will quickly learn that you really don’t love Jesus, He is just the reason they can’t sleep in on Sunday?

Do I desire to worship God or appease man?

This one really deals with the church at large.  Sadly, it has become popular to believe that we have to water down our worship in order to reach people with the gospel of Christ.  Yes, the gospel is offensive.  And when the unchurched attend our worship services there should be a degree of discomfort, for our desire for them should be the conviction of sin by the power of the gospel.  Remember, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes!  If we become guilty of watering down the message so as to not offend anyone, is God still the object of our worship?  What are we communicating to the world?  As one Christian noted, “If the gospel ceases to be offensive, it ceases to be operative.” 

Do I believe the maxim: “If it works it must be right.”

To say it succinctly, this is really bad logic.  And it leads to extremely bad methodology.  Pragmatism has invaded the church and in many cases become the guiding rule of ministry.  “If shorter, biblically shallow sermons bring the people then that is what must be done!”  “If games are what kids want then we must provide them!”  “If music that is devoid of God-saturated words seems more inviting to the unchurched, then we must change our worship!” 

This may sound logical, perhaps even evangelistic, but consider a few passages that contradict this philosophy of ministry:

1 Corinthians 1:22-23

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Paul seemed perfectly okay with the reality that the gospel of Christ is a stumbling block to the world.  He was okay with it because he knew that when God’s sheep heard the call of God through the gospel it was, and is, the power of God for salvation.  God forgive us for watering down His gospel.

Matthew 24:23-24

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

Basically the lesson here is that lies and deception can be extremely powerful.  Satan loves it when we alter or weaken the gospel message and get distracted by signs and wonders, which is basically looking for guidance in places other than the Word.  When the church begins to believe that any method which “works” brings glorify to God we fall into Satan’s hands.

Matthew 7:13-14

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy  that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Furthermore, Jesus says it quite clearly – just because it attracts a crowd does not mean that it is the correct way to do ministry.  Are you ashamed of the gospel?  Am I ashamed of the gospel?  We must seek the truth from God regarding this question, for it is time for the church – it is time for Christians – to rise up and live as approved workmen, those who have no need to be ashamed before God.  If nothing else has touched your heart, perhaps this warning from Christ will:

Mark 8:38

For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.