Are We Ashamed?
I slowly made my way down the narrow aisle of the aeroplane, taking great care not to wallop my fellow passengers with my bags. Checking my ticket, I noticed that my seat was towards the back of the aircraft, necessitating more careful navigation down the slim walkway. Finally, I located my aisle seat. However, as I began to lower myself into what would be my home for the next five hours, I heard a voice call out to me: 'Just a minute! I am next to you!' Looking up, I saw a middle-aged man and woman making their way towards me. These two would be my close travel companions for the flight.
As we sat down, we exchanged the normal travellers’ greetings, 'Where are you from?' 'Where are you going to?' 'They don’t give much space in these seats, do they?' Even though my flight was just beginning, I was already feeling tired. I had determined beforehand that I would get to my seat, put on an audiobook, and then perhaps, after a little while, drift off to sleep. Despite traveling to Western Australia to share about how to evangelise, I wasn't in the mood for talking.
As I put my headphones in, I felt a gentle tap on my arm; the lady sitting next to me wanted my attention. To my absolute horror, she desired to talk! Before I could object or pretend to fall asleep, she started telling me about her travels. She mentioned having just arrived from a fourteen-hour flight from LA and now faced another five hours before reaching her final destination. We chatted for a little while about the US and the length of flights across the Pacific. After several minutes, I was hoping the conversation was coming to an end, but then she pulled out something from her bag - a small circular plastic container. Opening it up, she revealed that this product contained a special hand cream, and I was about to find out all the details!
I am not the sort of man who uses hand cream, but if you do, then let me be the first to shake your smooth hand. However, this topic isn’t something I am interested in. Nevertheless, the lady was extremely passionate about this product. As she spoke, she was overcome with fondness for the item; it had clearly changed her life.
After talking to me for a while, she got up from her seat and made her way to the tail of the aircraft. She was gone for quite some time, but I didn’t give it much thought. Eventually, I too had to make my way to the back of the aeroplane. Upon arrival at the tail, I found a gathering of female cabin crew members, all standing around this woman as she told them about her hand cream. The ladies were engaged, talking rapidly, trying samples, and asking, 'Where can I buy it?’
As I returned to my seat, I must admit I felt convicted. Here was a lady who so loved an item that she couldn’t help but speak about it. Even though she was exhausted, she wanted everyone around her to know about this wonderful hand cream. It didn’t seem to bother her that people might not be interested, or that others might think she was crazy. She was passionate about something and wanted everyone else to experience what she had experienced.
As I contemplated all that I had witnessed, I wondered, 'Why don’t Christians have this same kind of passion? Why don’t I have that passion?'
Those of us who have been saved by the Lord Jesus have encountered the One who rescues us from sin and grants us eternal life. We should be so overjoyed at this that we cannot help but speak of Him, yet for some reason, we stay silent. We seem to be worried about what people may say or think, so we don’t speak about the One who rescued us.
Could this be because we fear man more than we fear God? Is it because we don’t truly realise what Christ has saved us from? Or are we simply ashamed of the gospel?
May we be able to say with the Apostle Paul,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16).
Let’s daily seek the Lord, asking Him for greater evangelistic passion so that we won’t be ashamed to speak of Him to all those we meet. Today, may we ask the Lord for His help to enable us to make much of Jesus.