by John Grant
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels“. Luke 9:26
As I turned to leave an office, the receptionist said to me, “Have a nice day.” to which I responded, “and may you have a blessed one.” She then said, “That’s what I wanted to say to you, but we are not allowed to since we might offend someone.”
As I walked down the hall, I felt sorry for her, trapped in a work environment where she could not even express her faith. I felt sorry for our country, one where our founding fathers declared that we were a Christian nation and where God’s words and scripture references adorn everything from our money to the walls of the halls of justice. What happened? How did we get here?
It has been a long and slow process that is not gathering speed like a rolling snowball. In the late 1800s, Charles Spurgeon warned that the church was drifting away from the purity of the gospel, candy-coating God’s Word rather than boldly proclaiming the truths of Scripture. As a result, Christianity’s influence in nineteenth-century England was severely weakened. Today, the church in most all of Europe has become insignificant in a post-Christian era.. the United States is following right behind.
Songwriter Joseph Grigg wrote nearly two hundred years ago “Ashamed of Jesus! of that friend on whom for heaven my hopes depend! It must not be! Be this my shame, that I no more revere His name.”
I am shocked to see how ‘political correctness‘ has infected even the minds of Christians. We are cautious so as to not offend anyone. We dilute and sanitize public prayer and we back away from sharing our faith when opportunities arise. We are being held captives of post modern culture in a time when more than ever we should be speaking out and speaking up for our faith.
The Apostle Paul writing to the Romans at a time when their culture was decaying from within, said to them (Romans 1:16) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentiles.”
We must be bold as we live and share our faith and never be ashamed of the Gospel of our Lord. Shout it from the hilltops and share it with all.
Have a blessed day! (a thought on life from John Grant )
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
You can comment on this devotional online at:
http://thoughtsaboutgod.com/blog/2010/03/30/jg_ashamed-of–the-gospel/
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