Ashamed of the Gospel?

"Nevertheless, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed" - 2 Tim 1:12

I wonder how many of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ are in actual fact ashamed of the gospel?  If I'm honest with myself, I will need to confess that I am a lot more like Timothy than Paul - I struggle every day with timidity and shame in spite of my calling to do the work of an evangelist. This is partially related to my personality (I'm a recovering ISTJ), but it goes even deeper than that.  Although I share the gospel with university students on a regular basis, I still struggle with fear and self doubt almost every time I step on campus.  In our 'enlightened' society which has relegated the story of Jesus to the realm of myth and fairytale, confidence in the gospel can dissipate all to quickly once we step outside of our private refuge, and as a result, our witness for Christ is neutralized.  If you really think about it, why would Satan need to resort to more drastic forms of persecution to silence and marginalize the North American Church when our own self doubt and shame does the job more effectively?  Imagine how different Canada would be if we Evangelical Christians (still a significant although declining demographic) could openly and honestly proclaim with the apostle Paul "I am not ashamed of the gospel" (2 Tim 1:12).  Instead we openly worship God on Sunday morning and cower in fear and shame for the rest of the week.  Should it surprise us that non-believers have a hard time believing the gospel when we're harbouring internal doubts about it ourselves?   The Muslims I encounter every day in Montreal are not ashamed of their beliefs!  The Mormons I see every week on the Montreal subway are not ashamed to proclaim historically indefensible myths!  Most people in our society no longer feel shame to promote what was once considered in Western culture to be unspeakable immorality!  Why is it that we Christians cower in fear and make up excuses when it comes to sharing the gospel of our Lord and Saviour?  Are we really so concerned about using methodology that has the potential to offend, or is this merely a handy excuse to justify a deep seated sense of shame?

 Perhaps the root cause of our collective and individual shame is revealed in the second half of this verse. We "believe" the gospel (ie. in the sense that we assent to a series of truth propositions about Christ), but we do not truly know the One on whom we have believed.  Notice that the apostle doesn't say "I know what I have believed", but rather "I know whom I have believed". For many Christians living on this side of the Enlightenment, faith has more to do with intellectual assent to certain truths about Jesus than it does with a dynamic relationship with the living and active Word of God (Jesus Christ).  To borrow a concept from the late Missiologist and TEDS professor Dr. Paul Hiebert, we Western Evangelicals are more concerned with "bounded set" thinking (ie. you're defined as a Christian based on what you profess to believe) rather than "centred set" thinking (ie. you're defined as a Christian so long as you're moving toward the "center" - in this case, relationship with Christ).  The former has more to do with dogmatic precision (orthodoxy) while the latter has more to do with relationship and spiritual progress (ongoing sanctification).  I personally becoming more convinced that we need to place a greater emphasis on the latter while keeping orthodoxy front and center.   My working thesis as I'm thinking through this issue is that shame in the gospel will disappear (or at least diminish) as we translate our knowlege about the salvific activity of God in history into experiential knowledge of the living and active Jesus, through whose Spirit "the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts" (Rom 5:5). If we come to the conclusion that we are ashamed of the gospel, we need to ask ourselves very seriously whether we truly know the One on whom we have believed or only know about Him.   Christianity is more than signing a statement of faith - it is experiential knowlege of the living and active Word of God who initiates and pursues relationship with us.

In a pluralistic and secular society which has turned moral truth on its head and treats the truths of God's Word as though it were one opinion among many (and a foolish opinion at that!), it will take more than intellectual assent to protect us against the sins of shame and unbelief - it will require nothing less than intimate, experiential knowlege of Christ.  I for one am determined by God's grace to grow in this area over the next year.  Perhaps it is time for us Sunday morning Christians to 'fess up to our cowardice, come out of the closet, and profess publically what we believe privately without reservation, without apology and without shame (and of course in a spirit of wisdom, love and humilty).  If Jesus wasn't ashamed to hang on a cross and die and to become a curse for sinners like us, then what right to we have to be ashamed of Him and His gospel?