Spiritual Atrophy: Ashamed of the Gospel

Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…

Overall, I believe that we as a people have become more passive in our interactions with others.  That passivity has seeped into our Christian relations as well.  Relations with other believers, but most importantly, relationships with the lost.

We may go all year without really connecting with others in a deep and significant way, and wonder why our interactions have become so superficial.  We watch person after person enter and then leave our lives, without ever sharing with them the hope in which we have.  And all the time, we are waiting for the “perfect opportunity”- an opportunity which never actually comes.  And all the while, our spiritual muscles begin to lose their strength, as they atrophy in the disease of our passivity. 

Some say this passivity is just happenstance- and that a perfect opportunity to really get honest with people about the gospel will eventually come, if we will only wait for it.  To this, I would disagree.  I used to believe this to be true…until I peeled back the layers of my passivity to find one thing: shame.  In a sense, I was ashamed of the gospel.  I was embarrassed.  I was worried about how to bring it up in conversation, what to say after that, and what people would think of me if I did. 

With the silence of my passivity I was inadvertently doubting the power of the gospel and the power of it’s God. I was allowing my fear of man to dictate my level of obedience rather than my fear of God.  And in the end, I was the one who came out short.  I was the one who missed the opportunities to speak the light of truth into desperate lives.  I was the one who missed out on being used by God, finding the abundance of joy in being in His will. 

Christians, I believe that it’s time for us to step it up- living a life that is in active pursuit of sharing the gospel that has changed our lives.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the opposite of passivity is an aggressive approach.  I don’t think we need to be standing on street corners waving signs of “Repent” and warning that the end is near (although in a strange way I covet that lack of inhibition that echoes with David that ‘I’ll become even more undignified than this’ if that‘s what it takes for God to be magnified).  But let’s be honest, most of us Christians aren’t even close to that end of the spectrum. 

Let’s begin by taking an active approach in our day to day.  Let’s begin by looking at the platforms that God has given us to share his love and his truth.  Let’s begin with asking the questions that we’re afraid to ask.  Let’s begin by starting those conversation that we’re always waiting for.  Let’s begin by sharing with strangers and with friends the things that our God is doing in our lives.  Let’s begin by taking interest in those we never found interesting.  Let’s begin by taking the gospel seriously, immersing ourselves in it so much so that it is overflowing into the lives around us.  Let’s begin with one person.  Let’s begin with today.

Lord, give us the strength to boldly proclaim with our lips and with our lives that we are “not ashamed of the gospel”.