Introduction
What does the word shame mean to you? To hear that word resonate in your mind….what memories does it rehearse? What acts of sin does it bring back to your remembrance? Perhaps the more pointed question to ask this evening would be, “Does the word shame mean anything to you?” When I hear the word shame, it brings other words to my mind like guilt, sorrow, remorse, emptiness, wastefulness. Shame is a very useful reality if exercised properly. It is also critical in its endeavor to rebuke us for things we have done wrong. We understand what shame implies for us don’t we?
To think about something that is shameful to us might make us cringe or curl our legs under our chair. It may bring up a past grievance and sin that we wish we could erase from our mind and our history of life on this earth all together. And being someone who was born and raised in this great country called the United States, I believe that no other country on the planet has become more successful at removing shame from the lives of others than in our own culture.
Anymore, the only acts that would bring shame to a person would be those that are the most heinous, vile acts that one could commit. Society would condemn a person with shame over such crimes as child abuse, rape, and mass murder. But the common commissions of sin remain unchecked, and disregarded as something to be ashamed of.
People just aren't ashamed of their sin anymore. Greed, fornication, covetousness, homosexuality, pride, lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes, manipulation, hypocrisy. No one cares. The average person in culture just does not feel ashamed about whatever it is they choose to do. The world has a myriad of excuses for all the things that people do that are sin in the eyes of God. And because of this devious design of mankind, this cuts people off from salvation because they have no shame. What do I mean by that? Allow me tonight to explain to you from the words of Christ in Mark 8:38 the two kinds of shame, and the consequences of that shame as applied to both believer and unbeliever.
To think about something that is shameful to us might make us cringe or curl our legs under our chair. It may bring up a past grievance and sin that we wish we could erase from our mind and our history of life on this earth all together. And being someone who was born and raised in this great country called the United States, I believe that no other country on the planet has become more successful at removing shame from the lives of others than in our own culture.
Anymore, the only acts that would bring shame to a person would be those that are the most heinous, vile acts that one could commit. Society would condemn a person with shame over such crimes as child abuse, rape, and mass murder. But the common commissions of sin remain unchecked, and disregarded as something to be ashamed of.
People just aren't ashamed of their sin anymore. Greed, fornication, covetousness, homosexuality, pride, lusts of the flesh, lust of the eyes, manipulation, hypocrisy. No one cares. The average person in culture just does not feel ashamed about whatever it is they choose to do. The world has a myriad of excuses for all the things that people do that are sin in the eyes of God. And because of this devious design of mankind, this cuts people off from salvation because they have no shame. What do I mean by that? Allow me tonight to explain to you from the words of Christ in Mark 8:38 the two kinds of shame, and the consequences of that shame as applied to both believer and unbeliever.
Moral Shame
There are two ways of understanding what shame is. The first way, the most common way is the shame of one’s morality. Lying, stealing, sexual immorality & laziness are but a few of the many moral sins we should be ashamed of.
Look at verse 38 of Mark 8. It reads, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Notice the first phrase of this verse – “whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words…”
The point Christ makes to the people of Israel is clear as day. There are consequences to shame – both good and bad. A good consequence to shame, we could say, would be the remorse, the repentance, and the forsaking of sin through Christ’s forgiveness. The negative, however, would be to feel nothing, to be apathetic, completely unmoved, unmotivated in either direction by the sins we commit.
Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 3:18-19. “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."
Can you see the brokenness….the bitter tears Paul sheds over the hearts of these people he just referred to. “And now tell you even weeping” – the sins of these people are breaking his heart. And because of their refusal to repent, they make themselves the enemies of the cross of Christ. Christian, when’s the last time you shed tears over the unashamed sin of your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors? Paul says they make themselves the enemies of the cross. How can you make yourself an enemy of the cross? The answer is simple. They have no shame for their sin, therefore, they have to reason to need Christ’s forgiveness.
“whose God is their belly” – their form of worship, what they choose to give credence to is the appetites, the selfish desires of their flesh. THIS is their god, rather than the one true God.
“and whose glory (boast) is in their shame” - they boast in their shame! They're the enemies of Christ. What they should be ashamed of is what they now brag about. My friends, a culture is in severe trouble when it brags about what it should be ashamed about.
Look at verse 38 of Mark 8. It reads, “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” Notice the first phrase of this verse – “whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words…”
The point Christ makes to the people of Israel is clear as day. There are consequences to shame – both good and bad. A good consequence to shame, we could say, would be the remorse, the repentance, and the forsaking of sin through Christ’s forgiveness. The negative, however, would be to feel nothing, to be apathetic, completely unmoved, unmotivated in either direction by the sins we commit.
Listen to what Paul says in Philippians 3:18-19. “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."
Can you see the brokenness….the bitter tears Paul sheds over the hearts of these people he just referred to. “And now tell you even weeping” – the sins of these people are breaking his heart. And because of their refusal to repent, they make themselves the enemies of the cross of Christ. Christian, when’s the last time you shed tears over the unashamed sin of your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors? Paul says they make themselves the enemies of the cross. How can you make yourself an enemy of the cross? The answer is simple. They have no shame for their sin, therefore, they have to reason to need Christ’s forgiveness.
“whose God is their belly” – their form of worship, what they choose to give credence to is the appetites, the selfish desires of their flesh. THIS is their god, rather than the one true God.
“and whose glory (boast) is in their shame” - they boast in their shame! They're the enemies of Christ. What they should be ashamed of is what they now brag about. My friends, a culture is in severe trouble when it brags about what it should be ashamed about.
Religious Shame
The second kind of shame we see in verse 38 is religious shame. Anyone who clings to a false religion should be ashamed of not their immorality but of their self-righteousness. They should be ashamed to think they are good enough to make right with God by being good. This is not what Scripture says, and is a complete lie in comparison with the words of Almighty God.
For example, in several areas of the Qur’an, it states if you are good enough and do good enough deeds, Allah will have mercy on you and let you into Heaven. Jesus Christ said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. “ – John 14:6. Falsifying who the true God is is nothing new in this world. Many false religions plague this world, convincing people that they have no need to be ashamed, but can merit their eternity through other means than Christ's Gospel.
Christ says, "[you] adulterous and sinful generation" - does that mean the nation of Israel was rampant with immorality and wrong doing? No, but they were committing spiritual adultery and were not ashamed of the way in which they molded the worship of God into a comfortable religion that would gain, in their minds, eternity in Heaven.
My friends, we as sinners are very good at what we do. And consequently, we often are not ashamed of what we do. And as Christians, sadly, we do not often become ashamed of what we do when we taint the Gospel message by our wicked sin. We have grown into a comfort zone of living for God on Sunday and perhaps Wednesdays but live our own lives the way we want, by our own rules, with our own bar of right and wrong. We know what the Bible says, but we refuse to obey it.
The world laughs us to scorn because we give no true allegiance to our Savior in our daily walk, but merely a social acceptance, much like a country club, by giving him little of our attention, if at all on the weekends. Our Bibles go untouched, our prayer lives remain desolate, our spirituality continues to grow more and more anorexic in nature. It is as if we are Christian atheists. God on Sunday – me on Monday!
Israel refused to be ashamed of their twisting of Scripture, their secret sin, their hypocrisy, and they were not ashamed of themselves. Since they refused to be ashamed of themselves, they in turn were ashamed of Jesus. This is why Christ called them an “adulterous and sinful generation.” They were committing spiritual adultery against Christ by twisting what God had ordained to be true worship of Him into something invented by man with men’s rules, philosophies, and agendas. And by those very acts, they chose to have no shame for what they did and for how the rejected Messiah.
But now I draw your attention to what I believe are the most devastating words in all of Scripture. The next to last phrase of verse 38 says "of him shall the Son of man be ashamed…" Wow! Do you see that? Christ tells us very bluntly that if we choose to be ashamed of Him, He’ll be ashamed of us. If we reject Christ, Christ rejects us. Can you imagine facing the rejection of Almighty God because we refuse to repent?
For example, in several areas of the Qur’an, it states if you are good enough and do good enough deeds, Allah will have mercy on you and let you into Heaven. Jesus Christ said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. “ – John 14:6. Falsifying who the true God is is nothing new in this world. Many false religions plague this world, convincing people that they have no need to be ashamed, but can merit their eternity through other means than Christ's Gospel.
Christ says, "[you] adulterous and sinful generation" - does that mean the nation of Israel was rampant with immorality and wrong doing? No, but they were committing spiritual adultery and were not ashamed of the way in which they molded the worship of God into a comfortable religion that would gain, in their minds, eternity in Heaven.
My friends, we as sinners are very good at what we do. And consequently, we often are not ashamed of what we do. And as Christians, sadly, we do not often become ashamed of what we do when we taint the Gospel message by our wicked sin. We have grown into a comfort zone of living for God on Sunday and perhaps Wednesdays but live our own lives the way we want, by our own rules, with our own bar of right and wrong. We know what the Bible says, but we refuse to obey it.
The world laughs us to scorn because we give no true allegiance to our Savior in our daily walk, but merely a social acceptance, much like a country club, by giving him little of our attention, if at all on the weekends. Our Bibles go untouched, our prayer lives remain desolate, our spirituality continues to grow more and more anorexic in nature. It is as if we are Christian atheists. God on Sunday – me on Monday!
Israel refused to be ashamed of their twisting of Scripture, their secret sin, their hypocrisy, and they were not ashamed of themselves. Since they refused to be ashamed of themselves, they in turn were ashamed of Jesus. This is why Christ called them an “adulterous and sinful generation.” They were committing spiritual adultery against Christ by twisting what God had ordained to be true worship of Him into something invented by man with men’s rules, philosophies, and agendas. And by those very acts, they chose to have no shame for what they did and for how the rejected Messiah.
But now I draw your attention to what I believe are the most devastating words in all of Scripture. The next to last phrase of verse 38 says "of him shall the Son of man be ashamed…" Wow! Do you see that? Christ tells us very bluntly that if we choose to be ashamed of Him, He’ll be ashamed of us. If we reject Christ, Christ rejects us. Can you imagine facing the rejection of Almighty God because we refuse to repent?
Shame's Application
What is it about the Gospel that makes us so embarrassed? What is it that we’re so ashamed of? If someone pulled me out of a burning building, wouldn’t you take full advantage of every time we were together to commend him in front of others? “Hey, have you met my friend here? This guy saved my life. It was amazing. I wouldn’t be here today without him.” Of course you would. Why? Because of the great thing he did for you.
So what about Christ? He who came, born in a manger, who knew no sin, went to Calvary’s cross, beaten, bruised, bloody, disfigured beyond belief, and hung on a rough-hewn cross like a slab of meat…..just so you and I could be called the righteousness of God through saving faith in Christ. If he did all that, why then do we become ashamed of Him? If you’ve trusted Christ, He saved your soul. Let me ask again, “What is it then that we have to be ashamed of?”
Bottom line, if you don't feel the shame of your acts, whether immoral, or false religion, you'd better wake up, because judgment is coming. The ultimate sin of rejecting Christ will NOT go unpunished, and it lasts for all of eternity. No one comes to salvation without being ashamed of himself. Shame is the evidence of remorse over one's sin. Salvation comes to those who are ashamed, like the publican in Luke 17. “God be merciful to me, a sinner” If you're not ashamed of yourself, you will reject Christ. You have a choice to make. You're either ashamed of yourself or ashamed of Christ?
That ought to be a simple choice. We have EVERYTHING to be ashamed of. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Every bit of good in this world is nothing more than a poop rag in the eyes of God. What is there about Christ that we are ashamed of? Perfect power, justice, love, holiness, righteousness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, mercy, tenderness?
If you're ashamed of Christ, you've got it all completely backwards. YOU deserve shame. Christ deserves NO shame. He deserves all honor, glory, praise. Hebrews 2:11says He's not ashamed to call us brothers. Hebrews 11 says God's not ashamed to be our God. God's not ashamed to love and redeem us. Why would we be ashamed of someone who seeks to love and redeem us? That's the stupidity of sin.
But often when confronted with our sin, rather than be ashamed of our sin, we become ashamed of the Savior and we reject Him. All sinners who reject the gospel are ashamed of Christ, not because of anything He is or has done, but because otherwise we have to be ashamed our ourselves and our sins. And one day, Hell will be the feeling of full shame over your sin as it is judged.
So what about Christ? He who came, born in a manger, who knew no sin, went to Calvary’s cross, beaten, bruised, bloody, disfigured beyond belief, and hung on a rough-hewn cross like a slab of meat…..just so you and I could be called the righteousness of God through saving faith in Christ. If he did all that, why then do we become ashamed of Him? If you’ve trusted Christ, He saved your soul. Let me ask again, “What is it then that we have to be ashamed of?”
Bottom line, if you don't feel the shame of your acts, whether immoral, or false religion, you'd better wake up, because judgment is coming. The ultimate sin of rejecting Christ will NOT go unpunished, and it lasts for all of eternity. No one comes to salvation without being ashamed of himself. Shame is the evidence of remorse over one's sin. Salvation comes to those who are ashamed, like the publican in Luke 17. “God be merciful to me, a sinner” If you're not ashamed of yourself, you will reject Christ. You have a choice to make. You're either ashamed of yourself or ashamed of Christ?
That ought to be a simple choice. We have EVERYTHING to be ashamed of. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Every bit of good in this world is nothing more than a poop rag in the eyes of God. What is there about Christ that we are ashamed of? Perfect power, justice, love, holiness, righteousness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, mercy, tenderness?
Conclusion
If you're ashamed of Christ, you've got it all completely backwards. YOU deserve shame. Christ deserves NO shame. He deserves all honor, glory, praise. Hebrews 2:11says He's not ashamed to call us brothers. Hebrews 11 says God's not ashamed to be our God. God's not ashamed to love and redeem us. Why would we be ashamed of someone who seeks to love and redeem us? That's the stupidity of sin.
But often when confronted with our sin, rather than be ashamed of our sin, we become ashamed of the Savior and we reject Him. All sinners who reject the gospel are ashamed of Christ, not because of anything He is or has done, but because otherwise we have to be ashamed our ourselves and our sins. And one day, Hell will be the feeling of full shame over your sin as it is judged.
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