Ashamed of the Gospel?

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..."





I find it helpful to consistently ask myself this question - what would it look like in my life if I was ashamed of the gospel? When I fall short I find that it is most commonly in these two areas:

1)Gospel Exclusivity - making the hard or difficult teachings of Jesus easier to digest, or to say it another way would be - Are you hesitant to teach that Jesus is the ONLY way to God? Or are you hesitant to proclaim that the same Jesus you worship demanded supremacy in someones life or they could not be His disciple - Lk 14:33? Are you tempted to water those or similar teachings down at times? Are you preaching a false gospel? Are you ashamed of the true gospel?

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Phillipians 2:9-11 "Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

2)Gospel Proclaimation - settling for something less than GOSPEL PROCLAIMATION! One of our favorite ways to hide from this is behind some really sharp half truths like this one from St. Francis of Assisi "Preach the gospel always if necessary use words". Contrast this to the New Testament.

Rom 10:14-15 " How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”...also Mk 16:15, Rom 1:15, 1 Cor 9:16... Are you ashamed to open your mouth for Jesus? Yes live out the gospel... but declare it with boldness, power, authority, conviction, and CONSISTENCY! O and how about with Joy... there is no greater news to proclaim on this planet. Christ has made a way where there was no way

Are you ashamed of the Gospel?