Under a Bushel

If you think about the times when you’ve been embarrassed, it’s usually from fear of being socially unacceptable.  We’re like pack animals and like to be in the center of the group, so we often comply with the majority.  We want to fit.

I’ve never been one to conform.

In our day it’s not vogue to be a Christian.  It sets us up for mockery and ridicule. So, we become silent Christians. We want to be saved, but not enough to declare it because we might offend someone in the workplace, at school, in our family, even in our church.  After all, we need to be “correct.”

It seems we’re not ashamed about being hell-bound, but only believing in the One who died to spare us.

When we have opportunity to stand for Christ, do we freeze up and look for a bushel to hide Him under?  At first blush we’re sometimes tempted to reject the gospel, for fear of being different, like the kid wearing the wrong shoes at the party.

We bend under the sound of someone saying we’re trying to push our beliefs on them.  And depending on who’s watching, we don’t bow our head to grace a meal, bow our knee to say a prayer, or raise our hands to praise the Lord.

But, what if God was ashamed of us?

Our culture tells us that God is relatively happy with us and if He isn’t, He should just get over it and stop judging and acting like a God.

Emergency grace has us come out from behind our fig leaf of shame and cry out to God for the moment.  Yet, other times we sell out Christ in a (God-given) heartbeat in order to appease the world.

But this is not my world, only my planet.

In the every day situations do we have the boldness to say what we believe?  We’re entering a season where we can express thanks-giving, and not let it fade in between the cracks of Halloween and Christmas  . . .  a Merry Christmas. 

Staying spiritually correct in a politically correct world.

God doesn’t need a defender, but if we possess Him we need to profess Him.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in glory.  Luke 9:26