I easily see where I try to enjoy someone else’s Divine Blessing… but I have conveniently forgotten how their blessing can reveal my shortfall.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.

Yet our stubbornly loving God continues to woo even these goody two-shoes to himself.

Praise God! I find myself at times frustrated and upset with the religionists I meet. But the reality is that our loving God is pursuing their hearts just the same as he is pursuing those who haven’t heard the name of Jesus.

And we, who are called to be the messengers of our Lord, should have the same heart as we engage with those who may be in the religionists’ camp.

I grew up in church and knew all the bible stories since I was young. (My mother tells me that when I was very young, if my family wasn’t going to go to church one Sunday, they’d have to tell me it was some other day, because I’d throw a fit. Apparently I loved going to church. I don’t remember that myself, and it quickly wore off by the time I was in grade school, but I guess that’s why we have others to remind us of the things we forget.)

By the 6th grade I knew a lot of the Bible stories, impressing my sunday school teachers. By the 8th grade I could show the parallels between the Genesis account of creation and the big-bang theory (which was not taken seriously by scientists at the time). I could see that all the religions of the world were basically the same and Jesus was basically the Christian version of Mohammed, Ghandi, Confucius, etc. Every religion had their mascot, their token human raised to higher levels.

I had missed the part about the resurrection, not taking it literally but figuratively.

I knew the apostles’ creed, but that particular creed glosses over the resurrection. It says he spent 3 days in hell, then rose again and sits on the the right hand of the father in heaven. To which I would think…. “just like everyone else. We all go to heaven anyway, right?”

So, although I’d grown up in the church and “knew” a lot (to the point that I was teaching Sunday school to youngsters and was a confirmed member of my church, by the way), I had missed the resurrection. I considered Easter the symbolism of what happens when we go to heaven.

After becoming a christian at age 19 (or so), through the faithful witness of someone who actually believed the Bible to be true yet didn’t require me to believe it to be my friend, I realized that the bodily resurrection is what clinches the deal. Jesus walked on earth, ate food, spoke with disciples, for 40 days! That was enough to establish his “true life after death”, not a merely spirtual existence that we don’t really know whether it happened or not.

(Let’s face it, we haven’t heard any verifiable proof that life after death really exists… it’s all rumors from this side of the grave. It might be wishful thinking. And I’m afraid, based on my “educated” and “enlightened” perspective prior to my “faith experience”, most of our world believes this to be the case. I think that’s why so many people are seeking everlasting life through leaving a legacy, having children, or even cryogenics… they believe the afterlife to be wishful thinking that, if it does exist, will be some sort of compromise, not a fulfilling life experience.)

When people ask me why I think Jesus is any different from other religious leaders, or when my friends tell me that Jesus’ only real fault was that he actually believed the stories he was making up about himself, my reply is to ask them about the resurrection. They usually have a quick response as to why they think the resurrection is a myth… and most of those ideas can be countered with thoughtful questions about proof. The truth is that there is no proof of the resurrection. But the truth also is that, were there no resurrection, that would have been very easy to prove back in the day, and people back in the day were very interested in squashing the idea of the resurrection.

Jesus was not some enlightened human being, like Ghandi, Mohammed, or the Dali Lama. I have a lot of respect for these guys, and I believe they deserve that as enlightened human beings. I am sure they are all more enlightened than I am. Jesus, however, was God taking the form of a human being. Quite a difference. This had been my missing “piece of information” that I didn’t understand until many months after my conversion. This is the hinge-pin.

And, why do I think there is any reason to believe Jesus was anything other than an enlightened human being?

Because of the resurrection.

The resurrection isn’t what saves us. Jesus’ death on the cross is what atoned for our sins and saves us from sin and death. The resurrection is what proves that Jesus’ death on the cross was able to be that atonement.

Because of the resurrection, I know that Jesus’ death was not the normal death that comes to all human beings. Jesus was sinless, therefore undeserving of death, and the resurrection shouts that from the mountaintops.

“Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.”

I don’t really like that advice, but at the end of the day, it’s pretty sound advice, isn’t it? Of course it is, it’s God’s Word!

Essentially, my responsibility is to present the gospel. And yet, I don’t want my son living in these conditions… and I want to lash out and have these people hide their depravity around me. But by lashing out I decrease my effectiveness as a witness to the Cross.

What is a good Christian to do?

But that’s the power of Scripture: to give us an accurate picture of God and to turn our hearts ever towards Jesus.

So today, when faced with the opportunity to share the message of Jesus Christ and his salvation, I’m going to remember that it’s worth is so much greater than my discomfort and shame. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation.

“Gospel” has become, in our day and age, a word to depict one of the first four books of the new testament. Is Paul saying he’s not ashamed of those books? Of course not… those books hadn’t even been written yet.

As you pointed out, “Gospel” in whatever orignal langage (probably Aramaic, but I don’t know for sure) merely meant “Good News.” Paul is not ashamed of the good news? Why would he be? Why would any of us be?

And here’s where I have gotten distracted in the past. If I’m ashamed of my church, am I ashamed of the gospel? Many would say so, because the church is the modern proclamator of the gospel. If I’m ashamed of my Christian brother’s behavior, am I ashamed of the gospel? Some would say so, because, after all, the the gospel is what saved that Christian brother.

If I am ashamed of Jesus before men, I am worthy of judgement. Jesus told us this in the “Good News” according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Is this the same thing as being ashamed of the Gospel? Is this the same thing as being ashamed of my church or my Christian brother?

I suspect being ashamed of Jesus and being ashamed of what Paul is reffering to as the “Good News” is in fact the same thing. In fact, I think Paul is summing up the work Christ accomplished on the cross as the “Good News.” He’s taking for granted that the readers have already heard the Good News Herald (with trumpets sounding, standing on a street corner with newspapers in hand, reading the headlines):

“Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Christ has done it! All Sinners’ Debts Have Been Paid in Full! We Can Now Enter the Throneroom of God with Confidence!”

Paul is summing up all of that with the term “Good News” because, well, can you imagine repeating all of that 6 times in the first 17 verses?

Meanwhile, he seems to be defending himself against something. It’s as if someone is telling him he *should* be ashamed of the Gospel.

If we look at the context of when this letter was written, and to whom it was written, it helps me with this. I find in the study notes for the epistle that:

1) Paul has not yet visited the Romans, this will come later. In fact, this epistle is probably by way of introducing himself to them, along with exhortation and education about the “good news” he preaches.

2) Paul is probably on the return-trip to Jerusalem of his 3rd missionary journey. This would put him smack-dab in the middle of Acts 20. This means that, by this time, Paul has been imprisoned, stoned, the subject of riots, not to mention being scorned by his own people (just as he scorned and persecuted the Christians before his own conversion).

Based on this, I’m sure people are ashamed of Paul, both Jew and Christian alike. These people are asking “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? We certainly are! Don’t you think God is ashamed of you? And if God isn’t ashamed of you, you don’t worship the same God as us! Aren’t you ashamed of a god who would let you be imprisoned, insulted, stoned, left for dead, and persecuted? What sort of god do you worship, anyway?”

To which Paul replies… “I am not ashamed of God, nor of Jesus. He should be ashamed of me, because of all I did to His followers, passing judgement in His name. Instead, Jesus saved me. I am not ashamed of him, I owe my life and my salvation to Him!”

Paul was at times ashamed of his brothers. He was ashamed of John Mark for “abandoning” them on the road. He was ashamed of his people for not hearing the Gospel and turning a deaf ear to it. He was ashamed of himself at times.

But he draws the line at being ashamed of the work Jesus did on the cross for him, and for me and for you; for the world. It was a shameful thing. We put the creator of the universe on a cross because we didn’t recognize him as the giver of life, the way to peace and wisdom. He had to die to pay for our sin, but we didn’t have to make it so humiliating. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

And it would be tempting to be ashamed of any God so humble and meek to be weak before men and submit Himself to such humiliation and shamefulness. Zeus would never have done that! (Nor would Lucifer, by the way.) But, in fact, due to the nature of this fallen world of ours, the requisite death which paid for the penalty of our sin could come in no other way. So I guess overcoming the temptation to be ashamed of my God who is willing to stoop to my level to reach me is one that I should in fact work hard to overcome, because I’d rather be in God’s company than Lucifer’s.

And in fact, I don’t find shame like that to be much of a temptation, as I suspect would be the case with most readers of your blog.

Am I ashamed to tell others about the Good News? That’s not quite the same as being ashamed of the Gospel, but it might be close. It’s especially difficult to proclaim my own Christianity to my workplace when I am ashamed of the behavior of other Christians in my workplace. Or if I’m ashamed of how the church is acting in my community or society. But if shame of my brother’s behavior or my church’s social engagement causes me to be ashamed of the Good News, I suspect I’m probably confusing my priorities. I’ll have to think on that one.