Shameless

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek

 

A coin has two sides that make it valid. The same is true about the cross of Jesus. The cross always has two sides to it, shame and glory. When one carries his cross, there's some amount of shame when one identifies as a Christian. Many want the glory but don't want the shame of the cross. They forget that on the cross,  Jesus was crucified naked, yet at the same time, He conquered sin and death on it, hallelujah. 

But why should we be ashamed when we have a message that turns souls around for good? You yourself are a testimony of God's saving power through the cross. That enough should make you bold and shameless. 

If we are not shameless,  our churches cannot have more branches or even cannot grow. The devil has made it appear shameful to ask people to give, preach the gospel, start churches, fellowships or even sacrifice for God. But we need to overcome any shame if we are to advance the kingdom of God far and wide. 

The born again movement in Uganda has had its own share of shame. Our fathers in the faith were shameless by starting out with papyrus or biwempe which formed the church structures. That shamelessness helped them overcome the attacks from the traditional denominations and todate God has enabled us to have some of the biggest cathedrals in the country.

I remember when our church was starting,  we used to go to some hostel to preach every evening.  If we have met resistance in preaching,  it was much in that place. But what amused me is that we had a man of peace whose roommate was against what we were doing, for he was not saved, but we kept at it, preaching and knocking on doors. We didn't give up. To this day, that once stubborn roommate is also saved and busy doing the work of God.  Such testimonies make me bolder in sharing the gospel because I know that I am doing the right thing anyway!

Paul was not ashamed of sharing the gospel to the highest officials of the day. Why should we? Let's be shameless in spreading the gospel, shameless in inviting people to our churches, shameless in identifying with our churches and pastors, shameless in giving,  shameless in working for God etc.