“I am Not Ashamed of the Gospel”: Godly “Pride” This June

Are You Ashamed?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

Of course we’re not ashamed of the beautiful gospel that saved us from eternal separation from God and slavery to our sinful desires.

As Christians, most of us would give a hearty “amen!” to Romans 1:16. Of course we’re not ashamed of the beautiful gospel that saved us from eternal separation from God and slavery to our sinful desires. But do we “amen” as heartily when it comes to the gospel applied to the sexual sins of our culture?

Consider these very plausible scenarios that may happen to you this June:

• The school you teach at requires educators to put their pronouns in their bios and call students by their preferred pronouns.
• The company you work for hosts a rainbow-adorned pride-themed family picnic.
• A family member you love, and who professes Christ, changes their social media profile picture to a rainbow filter to be a good “ally.”

The list goes on of scenarios that may play out during the month of June that hit close to home and that force us as believers to make decisions as we apply our biblical worldview in very practical ways. Do we add the pronouns to the bio? Do we use the preferred pronouns? Do we attend the picnic? Do we confront our family members about their “allyship”? Where do we draw the line? The thought of losing one’s job or being sued in the courts is heart-wrenching for us, but like Daniel, there is a line that we as Christians do not cross.

Many times, we know what we’re called to do based on God’s Word . . . but do we hesitate to do it, not just because of the potential consequences, but because, deep down, we’re really ashamed of the gospel applied to this issue? Does our hesitation really show that we’re ashamed that the Bible says this is sin and, secretly, we wish the Bible didn’t?

Boast in the Lord

This month is all about pride, which, if you know your Bible, you know is a sin. It’s not just the sexual temptations, lusts, and acts involved with an LGBTQ lifestyle and identity that God calls sinful—it’s also the “loud and proud” proclamation and celebration of that sin. It’s nothing short of thumbing our collective nose at the Creator and declaring we, in our sinful state, know more about what is right and best for us than our Creator.

All Christians must flee this kind of pride . . . but there is a kind of “pride” we should pursue. Consider this Scripture:

So that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:31)

As Christians, we’re not to boast in anything about us—the good, the bad, or the ugly. We’re to boast in Christ and Christ alone. His amazing grace, great love, and unfailing mercy are to be the subject of any and every boast we might make. To think of it in another way, the only “pride” we’re to have is pride in our Savior and what he’s so graciously accomplished for us on the cross.

Cultivating the Right “Pride”

So what does this mean?

Our culture, and ultimately our enemy Satan, wants us to feel ashamed of our biblical starting point. Satan wants us to be shamed into silence.

It means that we should never be ashamed of the gospel and the gospel applied to the issues of our day. Our culture, and ultimately our enemy Satan, wants us to feel ashamed of our biblical starting point. Satan wants us to be shamed into silence. Maybe we do believe what the Bible says, but we wish we didn’t have to so we could just “live and let live.” But either we really do believe the Bible and what it teaches about the goodness of the creation order and the Creator . . . or we don’t. And if we don’t really and truly believe that we need to ask ourselves why and seek to grow in our faith on that issue.

We have no reason to be ashamed, even deep down, of biblical truth. The fads of our day will come and go but God’s Word will remain forever. And as time passes, the “due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27) will be increasingly evident because sin always hurts those it claims to set free. Why? Because as Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin” (John 8:34).

Don’t be ashamed of the gospel. Don’t be ashamed of the biblical teaching on marriage, family, and sexuality. Instead, cultivate a godly sense of “pride”—a boast—in Christ and the truth of his Word in all areas by meditating on the truth of God’s Word and who God is, the good Creator who loves us so much that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.