By
Pastor Thomas Carter
For
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But
the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Romans 1:16-17
As
a teenager, at camp meetings, I was challenged to carry my Bible on top my
books and wear Christian t-shirts. At those meetings, many kids said that the speaker
doesn’t know my school. There were teens
from my school who said the same thing, yet I felt lead to do that very
thing. My experience was not that
bad. I was laughed at by a few and even
had my Bible stolen once but overall it was a great experience that even led to
me getting to share the gospel with classmates. I carried this idea into the job world by not
being afraid to read my Bible on breaks and invite people to church.
What
is ashamed? Webster defines ashamed as:
1. feeling
shame, guilt, or disgrace 2. reluctant
or unwilling to do something because of shame or embarrassment. (ashamed) I think the second part of this definition is
what Paul had in mind when He said he was not ashamed of the Gospel. Paul
didn’t hide or have reluctance despite the fact he had been imprisoned, chased
out of places, laughed at and even stoned because of preaching the gospel. The Gospel is a message of good news and
power that would save people from their sins.
Rome
was the center of the world at the time of Jesus and Paul. There was all sorts of pagan and idol worship
taking place in that city. This was the
capital city of the world for Paul and the emperor or Caesar was in that
city. With all the political things that
take place in a capital city and the many different beliefs and people type
that would be living and passing through that city, Paul knew he would face
ridicule, criticism, possible physical repercussion, and even death for that
message when he reached Rome. This would
not stop Paul from his mission nor should it stop those in Rome from proclaiming
the good news of Jesus! They should not
hide but boldly proclaim that salvation and eternal life is through Jesus
Christ!
What
about us? In today’s world do people
know that you’re a Christian? A pastor asked me years ago: “If you were
arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict
you?” In America, we have freedom of
religion but that doesn’t mean we don’t face getting laughed at. We fear that we might be laughed at or even
be the center of the gossip. We let fear
drive us not the power of God nor the Gospel.
What is instore for those who never receive Jesus? Are you truly going to be silent and let that
happen? The calling to share the gospel
is to all of us. How people will take
that message we won’t know until we pray for them and we boldly tell them the
good news of Jesus Christ.
