Ashamed?

HoHum:

It all makes sense now. Gay marriage and marijuana are being legalized at the same time.

Leviticus 20:13 says if a man lays with another man, he should be stoned. Just misinterpreting

WBTU:

That is so politically incorrect. PC is ruining us as a nation. Some dictionaries give the flavor of it: “Language or conduct that deliberately avoids giving offense” “Conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities should be eliminated.”

SOME THINGS ABOUT PC CAN BE WELCOMED.

As Christians we are to avoid words that are filthy as described in Colossians 3:8.

In the concern to avoid words that offend and upset people, this encourages us to consider others. Where greater care is taken and sensitivity is shown, this must be acknowledged as right by Christians who are exhorted to “Be kind and compassionate to one another” (Ephesians 4:32).

However, PC is clearly more than calling for respect and good manners. It goes far beyond this into another realm that should cause us deep concern. A goal of PC is to tear down biblical Christianity. According to PC, no one should ever be guilty of telling another person that he is a sinner in the sight of a Holy God. The s-word and the h-word (sin and hell) are off-limits. Instead of being sinful people, we are simply spiritually challenged people. As for hell, it doesn’t even exist, and if by chance it really does exist, no one is going there, because there are no sinners, according to PC.

If anyone goes against PC, they are guilty of hate-crimes, they are bigots, and they should be permanently silenced... And all this is in the name of tolerance (popular word for PC)!

Get right down to it, Jesus Christ is anti PC. Consider the account of Jesus' public ministry given in the New Testament. The first word of his first sermon was "Repent!"--a word that is anti PC. The first act of his public ministry touched off a small riot according to John 2. He made a whip of cords and chased moneychangers and animal merchants off the Temple grounds. That initiated a three-year-long conflict with society's most distinguished leaders. They eventually handed him over to Roman authorities for crucifixion while crowds of people cheered them on.

Jesus was pointedly, deliberately, and dogmatically countercultural in almost every way. No wonder the leaders of his generation were so hostile to him.

Would Jesus receive a warmer welcome today? Anyone who has seriously considered the New Testament knows well that he would not. Our culture is devoted to pluralism and tolerance; contemptuous of all absolute or exclusive truth-claims. Contrast with “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

As Christians we are followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is unconcerned with being PC. We need to avoid being malicious, hateful and foul mouthed but we will never be PC.

Luke 9:26- We need to be concerned with pleasing our Master, Jesus Christ. Are we ashamed of Jesus Christ and His Words?

Thesis: Are we ashamed?

For instances:

Are we ashamed of the stigma of the cross?

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

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV.

On March 4, 1991, Occidental College removed two crosses from the outside of its campus chapel. The crosses on the chapel were removed because the faculty members were afraid they gave false signals to the community as to the nature of their commitment to Christianity. In a sense, the crosses on the chapel were considered a stumbling block to the kind of pluralistic, educational community Occidental College wanted to be known as. The crosses were bad for their public image. Good chance the cross will be bad for our image as well. However, need to lift high the cross of Jesus Christ.

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14, NIV.

Are we ashamed to stand out in the crowd?

“So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.” 2 Timothy 1:8

As Jesus ministered on earth, He looked different and talk different. The danger with modern Christianity is our desire to blend in with the world. We are transformed and at times we will stick out like a sore thumb.

One of the stars of the TV show Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson, was interviewed by GQ magazine. From Phil’s latest book, unPhiltered, he talks about this incident. The first question out of the reporters mouth was: “Do you think homosexual behavior is a sin?” I quoted him a list of sins from the Bible from memory. The scripture I quoted to the GQ reporter was written by Paul and is what God said, so I believe it to be true. I quoted specifically 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which says: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” These are God’s words. In my opinion, the really sad part about the flap from the GQ interview is that most of the mainstream media in American didn’t even know I was quoting from the Bible. Apparently, they believed I was just running my mouth. Was I mad about being put on indefinite hiatus by A & E? No, I was sad about it. What the GQ reporter left out of the story and what many people seemed to gloss over was that after Paul gave the Corinthians the list of sins, he finished with this: “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11. Paul was trying to encourage them and described how they used to behave. But the Good News- and this is what much of America missed- is that God erased their sins and forgave them. Paul was warning them not to go back to their former lives. What a great thing for God to do back then and what a great thing He can do in America today. The sins in the list Paul sent to the Corinthians were common then, and they’re common in America today. Instead of people repenting of their sins and turning to God, they are mad at me. All we can do is share the Good News with others, telling them Jesus came to earth more than two thousand years ago to save us from our sin. It is not me they have a problem with- it is Jesus- and I simply represent Him.