Bible Q & A

Should Christians ever feel ashamed?

"Sometime I have a problem with calling myself a Christian. 'Christians' have somewhat of a bad reputation way back in World History," read an e-mail message I received recently. As Christians, we can never be ashamed of the One who was shamed, beyond anything we can imagine, for each one of us. I know that the person who wrote this e-mail message would consider it unthinkable to be ashamed of our Savior. To me, her statement is hardly discernable from the act of being ashamed of Him. We cannot let anyone cause us to be ashamed of the title, "Christian."

Christians did not perform the past heinous acts that have been credited to us. I can't imagine that the ones who performed such acts were Christians by any stretch. The fact that they did those things in the name of Christianity does not make Christianity guilty of those things. Suppose someone went on a killing spree in your name. Would you also be guilty? Of course not.

Many times, those who are hostile to Christianity are not hostile because of some perceived crime against humanity. Look at all the good things Christians have done over the years. How many people have been fed and clothed by Christians? How many souls have been saved by hearing the gospel from the mouths of Christians? How many Christians died at the hands of those who committed evil acts in the name of Christianity so long ago? The most prevalent reason for the dislike of Christianity stems from the fact that the existence of Christianity is a neon sign advertising against a way of life that is spiritually and physically harmful. We've seen how those hostile to Christianity rejoice when a public Christian figure falls. They do so in an attempt to validate their own rebellion against their creator.

People who are not Christians are, often times, looking for an excuse. And before we, as Christians, start feeling "holier than thou," this search for an excuse is preferable to the way many Christians live. Christians are without excuse when they sin because God always leaves us a way out (1 Cor. 10:13). So do Christians eventually get to the point where they no longer sin? I very much doubt it. Even Paul commented:

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:15, 21b-25a)

Paul goes on to say:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," (Rom 8:1)

Because we are saved by grace and grace alone and no amount of good work can help save us, our sorry state can be forgiven. Jesus died for all our sins. But this does not give us license to sin. The Bible separates the corrupt but saved man, like Paul, from the habitual, not truly repentant lost man. Sincere Christians have a desire to please the one who made such a great sacrifice for them - Jesus the Christ.

Find out more about the great lengths your creator has gone to for you personally.

Return to the Bible Q & A Main Page