Shame

 “But the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.  Let us lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God (Jeremiah 3:24-25).” It is understandable that when we sin we feel ashamed. However, as Christians, the reason we feel ashamed is because we know that sin is wrong. Is there anything positive that can come from this? Often time’s pastors will revert to the Old Testament scriptures and use them to magnify and focus on our sinful acts to get us to feel ashamed. They will often use the disobedience of Israel and the shame they felt for their sin and then superimpose Christians into that same scenario. I am of the opinion that doing this is all part of a grand scheme to manipulate and control Christians. No matter how hard we try we will never rid ourselves of sin in our lives. That will only come when we die. This is not to say that we should not expect sin to decrease in our lives, but that it is a byproduct of knowing our God, not finding more ways to get our flesh to behave. Yet, many pastors use our sinfulness to control us by selling us the idea that our sinful actions separate us from God and, thus, we need to submit to their plan of getting ourselves back into God’s good graces. All this leads to is a lifetime of behavior modification where all we end up feeling is even more distant from God and our faith is weakened  as our wallets become lighter; after all, the only reason pastors teach this stuff is because they are supported by Christians who pay them to teach it. But, are we ever taught that feeling ashamed is actually a sign of our salvation? Prior to being saved how often did you truly feel ashamed of your sin? Yes, for those of us who were raised in a Christian environment, we knew sin was wrong, but if you were like me, it wasn’t something that I felt at the core of my being. However, when the Holy Spirit invades a Christian the war between the flesh and the Spirit of God begins. Therefore, let that serve as a reminder of your salvation because that “battle” being waged in the members of your flesh is God fighting for you and with you. That is not something to be ashamed of.

 Furthermore, we do not “lie down in our shame” and “let our humiliation cover us.” We are not spiritually dead Jews whose sins had not been taken away at the Cross by the death of Jesus Christ. We are Holy Spirit filled, forgiven children of God who do not face condemnation from God for our sinful acts. What we need to focus on is not the shame and humiliation of the Jews written about by Jeremiah. We need to focus on what God says about us in the New Testament. “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, “I will proclaim Your name to My brethren, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise (Hebrews 2:11-12).” Your faith in Jesus Christ has resulted in many things. You are sanctified; set apart, made holy and blameless in the eyes of God. But, even more wonderful is the fact that because of this truth God is not ashamed of you and will go so far as to proclaim your name and sing your praise! That is the exact opposite of being told that you must lie down in shame and cover yourself with humiliation. Sin is a terrible thing and should not be something that is encouraged, but avoided at all costs. However, along with that a Christian must realize that God is no longer counting your sins against you and remembers them no more because of the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Live in thankfulness for that great example of His love and enter into the grace and mercy of the Lord where He is not ashamed of you!