EVERYONE LOVES JESUS IN CHURCH: Whether I’m embarrassed of Jesus often changes with a spike in the cost.
- Mark 14: 27-31, 50, 67-68.
- It’s easy to love Jesus when there’s no cost involved. It’s easy to love Him when there’s no pressure.
- As the costs increase, so too does the likelihood that we’re embarrassed of Him.
- What do I mean by “a spike in the cost?”
- The cost might be physical danger, like Peter was in (although that would be pretty rare for us).
- The cost might be losing a job.
- The cost might be potentially harming a relationship.
- The cost might be financial.
- The cost might be losing social standing.
- The cost might be embarrassment among our friends.
- Peter’s spike in cost:
a. Mark 14:27-31.
- Surrounded by only disciples, no enemy in sight, cost was low.
b. Mark 14:50.
- They all (Peter included) flee, but in so doing he forsakes but doesn’t deny.
c. Mark 14:67-68.
- One girl accusing, he vaguely denies and walks away.
THE QUESTION TO ANSWER: When is Jesus too expensive for you?
- That raises the question for our lives: when is the cost too high for us to pay it? When are we embarrassed of Jesus?
- We might say, “I’ve never done like Peter and publicly yelled, ‘I don’t know the man.’” And perhaps that’s true, but there may be other ways that we’ve decided that standing for Jesus wasn’t worth the cost.
- I want to look at five examples of times when we face this question of being embarrassed of Jesus. We’ll look at them moving from the least cost to the higher cost. In each, we need to take an honest look at our hearts and ask, “Would I be willing to pay the cost there or would I be embarrassed of Jesus?”
ESCALATING COSTS:
- As we go through these, let’s focus on that phrase “being embarrassed of Jesus.”
- Are these situations where I’m embarrassed of Him or am I proud of Him?
1. Do I acknowledge proudly and publicly that I’m a Christian?
- Romans 1:16.
- There is an idea that a many Christians seem to hold onto today that there is such a thing as “private faith?”
- I can keep my faith just between me and God and that’s perfectly alright.
- Now I’m not saying that we need to be annoying about it and get up in everyone’s face, but do the people around you know that you’re a believe in Jesus?
- We keep it private in little ways:
a. We never bring up anything about the Bible or faith.
b. We never mention going to church.
c. We never mention praying for someone.
- Most of the aspects of our life naturally come up.
- You all know I love golf. You all know I love sports. You all know we lived in Poca. You all know I have four kids. Those things come up without me thinking about them in my conversation because those are things that are important to me.
- If we say that Jesus is important to us but He never comes up in our conversation, then what does that say about how important our faith really is?
- If someone went around to your friends or neighbors or co-workers and asked, “Is so-and-so a Christian?” would the answer be “I think so” or “Maybe”? Or would the answer be “Yes – definitely.”
- If directly asked we would say that we are, but I don’t mean that.
- I mean that we conspire to keep our faith tucked away like our drivers license.
- If you ask me for it I’ll get it out and show it to you, but you have to ask.
- Romans 1:16 says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”
- Am I? Are you?
2. In worship, do I focus on what others think?
- John 4:24.
- When we’re in worship, we’re supposed to be focused on praising God and worshiping Jesus.
- Often, though, our focus is on what others are thinking.
- We feel led to say “Amen” but we’re worried what our friend sitting next to us will think.
- We feel like we should go forward to pray at the end of the service, but we worry that someone will think, “What is she going forward for?”
- We feel like raising a hand in praise when we’re singing “Amazing Grace” and the words really hit home, but we don’t want anyone to think we’re crazy.
- We are moved by the sermon and want to shed a tear, but are too embarrassed to do that.
- What do all those have in common: we’re more focused on what the person is thinking than on what Jesus is thinking.
- Jesus calls us to praise and honor Him.
- Of course, no one should force worship that is not genuine. It’s not a show.
- But we are called to praise Him, but often we’re embarrassed to do that.
- In essence, we’re embarrassed of Jesus and what He’s called us to do in worship.
- The funny – or sad – thing about that is the embarrassment is happening when we’re surrounded by other Christians. How crazy is that?!
- If there should be anytime that we should not be embarrassed of Jesus, it should be in church, right?
- Yet many of us are embarrassed week after week to genuinely praise and honor Him in worship.
- And if we’re embarrassed of Jesus in the low-threat environment of being surrounded by other Christians, how likely are we to be proud of our faith when we’re out in the world?
3. In public, do I stand only for the “publicly-acceptable” part of the gospel?
- Matthew 5:29-30.
- There are parts of Christianity that pretty much everyone agrees are great:
a. “God is love.”
b. “Love your neighbor.”
c. “God will forgive you.”
- These are “warm and fuzzy” aspects of the Christian faith. Even those who aren’t particularly religious generally or aren’t Christians particularly would not have a problem with that.
- But then there are the parts that not everyone is so crazy about:
a. “There is a place called hell.”
b. “God passionately wants you to get rid of sin in your life.”
- Matthew 5:29-31 – Jesus says that if cutting off your hand would help you to avoid hell, you should do whatever it takes.
c. “Sex outside of marriage is wrong.”
- These are beliefs that not everyone likes and that some would find offensive. Because of that, they are beliefs that are much less likely to be publicly embraced.
- When you stand for the truth of God, do you only stand for the parts that everyone agrees are great (because they’re fundamentally not offensive to even a sinner’s sensibilities, even if they have no intention of following them).
- When a subject comes up in the discussion when you’re at work or when you’re among friends that touches on one of the less warm-and-fuzzy parts of the gospel, are you silent?
- Are you embarrassed of what Jesus said is true on that issue? Are you embarrassed of Jesus?
4. In one of my relationships, will I speak the truth in love even if it might hurt that friendship?
- Ephesians 4:15.
- There are passages that talk about being willing to share the truth in love with those around us.
- That’s uncomfortable for many of us, so we choose not to do it.
- We just ignore what Jesus has instructed us to do.
- Now, of course, we have to be discerning as to when God is leading us to do this.
- What would be some situations?
a. There is a church discipline situation within a church.
b. We have a friend heading toward serious sin and God leads us to talk to them and warn them.
c. There is destructive behavior going on within the church that needs to be confronted.
d. Someone has quit coming to church and you want to not just encourage them to get back but also let them know you’re concerned about their spiritual lives.
- There are number of issues here, among them:
a. We don’t like confronting.
b. We don’t want anyone to be mad at us.
c. Sometimes this sort of thing is handled in an offensive way.
d. But one of the big ones is that we’re embarrassed to do what Jesus has asked us to do.
- I don’t want to stand up in obedience to Christ where it gets uncomfortable.
- Jesus has asked me to do this, but I’m embarrassed of what He’s asking me to do.
- Another aspect of the issue is the potential consequence of damaging a friendship.
- It is true that there are times when confronting someone over an issue can be received poorly and hurt the friendship.
- But in that situation to choose to ignore the commandment of Christ and the leading of the Spirit to deal with that issue is to put Jesus second.
- It’s as though we’re saying: I’m embarrassed of what Jesus is asking me to do, so I’m going to ignore it.
5. Would I tell someone how to be saved?
- John 3:3-8.
- How often do we witness to someone and point them toward Christ? When was the last time we had the chance to win someone to Jesus?
- It is a scary moment in a lot of ways: to ask them if they know Jesus. Some could get angry; some could ask questions you don’t feel qualified to answer; some could mock your belief.
- And so many of us just avoid it. Even if there’s an open door in that direction. Even if they obviously need Jesus in their lives.
- In the end, we’re embarrassed of Jesus and the salvation He offers.
- We’ll tell someone how great a new book is we’re reading. We’ll tell someone how much we enjoy our favorite TV show. We’ll tell someone about the best store in town to shop at. But we won’t talk about what Jesus can do.
[Not in bulletin]
Concluding point on this section: One reason we have to stay vigilant about this is that it’s easy to become more and more embarrassed.
a. Mark 14:67-68.
- One girl accusing, he vaguely denies and walks away.
b. Mark 14:69-70.
- Same girl accusing, he vaguely denies but doesn’t walk away.
c. Mark 14:70-71.
- Someone accuses, he boldly and profanely denies.
- One point to consider here: we sometimes think about denying our faith in terms of a dramatic Columbine moment, but that’s almost never the situation. It’s normally small situations and relatively small consequences.
- We have to be diligent about this because we never know when the temptation is going to hit.
- Elijah was bold before the 850 Baal prophets, but then grew fearful of one woman (Jezebel).
A CHALLENGE: Are you a child of God or a second cousin twice removed?
- Mark 14:72.
- If you’re a child of God, then be proud of that! If you’re a follower of Jesus, then be proud of that!
- Many of us act more like a second cousin twice removed from Christ. Do I know Him? Well, yeah, kinda, it’s a distant relationship, but I know Him.
- No! I’m a child of God. I’m a follower of Jesus. I’m proud of having Him in my life.
- I take Peter’s tears as signs of repentance.
