What Are We Ashamed Of?
I slowly made my way down the narrow aisle of the aeroplane taking great care not to wallop my fellow passengers as I moved by with my bags. As I looked at my ticket, I noticed that my seat was towards the back of the aircraft which meant more careful navigation down this slim walkway. Finally, I found my aisle seat, but as I begin to lower myself into what would be home for the next five hours, I heard a voice call out to me, “Just a minute! I am next to you!” I look up to see a middle-aged man and woman making their way towards me; these two will be my close travel companions for the flight.
As we sat down, we exchange the normal travellers’ greetings, “Where are you from?” “Where are you going to?” “They don’t give much space in these seats, do they?” Even though my flight was just beginning I was already feeling tired; I had determined beforehand that I would get to my seat, put on an audiobook and then perhaps after a little while drift off to sleep. Even though I was travelling to Western Australia to share about how to evangelise, I wasn’t in the mood for talking.
As I put my headphones in I felt a gentle tap on my arm, the lady sitting next to me wanted my attention - to my absolute horror she desired to talk! Before I could object or pretend to fall asleep, she started to tell me about her travels. She told me she had just arrived on a fourteen-hour flight from LA and now she had another five hours before she reached her final destination. We chatted for a little while about the US and the length of flights across the Pacific; after talking for several minutes, I was hoping the conversation was coming to end, but then she pulled out something from her bag - it was a small circular plastic container. Opening it up she revealed that this product contained a hand cream, but not just any hand cream, this was a special cream and I was about to find out all the details!
I am not the sort of man that uses hand cream, but if you do then let me be the first to shake your smooth hand. Now, I am not interested in hand products, however, the lady was clearly passionate about the cream. As she spoke, she was overcome with fondness for the item; this product had clearly changed her life.
After talking to me for awhile, she got up out of the seat and made her way to the tail of the aircraft. She was gone for quite some time, but I didn’t give much thought to this. Eventually, I too had to make my way to the back of the aeroplane; upon arrival at the tail I found a gathering of female cabin crew members all standing around this woman as she told them about this wonder working product. The ladies were engaged, they were talking rapidly, they were trying samples and they were asking, “Where can I buy it?”
As I returned to my seat I must admit I felt convicted; here was a lady that so loved an item that she couldn’t help but speak about it. Even though she was exhausted she wanted everyone to know of this wonderful hand cream. It didn’t seem to bother her that people may not be interested or that others may think she was crazy, she was passionate about something and she wanted all to experience what she had experienced.
As I contemplated what I had seen, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why don’t Christians have this same kind of passion?” – Why don’t I have that passion?
Those of us who have been saved by the Lord Jesus have encountered the One who rescues us from sin and grants us eternal life. We should be so overjoyed at this resuce, that we cannot help but speak of Him, yet for some reason we stay silent. We seem to be worried about what people may say or think, so we don’t speak about the One who saved us.
Could this be because we fear man more than we fear God? Is it because we don’t truly realise what Christ has saved us from? Or are simply ashamed of the gospel?
The Apostle Paul said,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16).
Daily let’s seek the Lord for greater evangelistic passion, so that we will not be ashamed to speak of Him; today, may we ask the Lord for His help to enable us to make much of Jesus.
Keep Making Much of Jesus!