Shy or Ashamed?

To those of you who regularly read my blog, I have shown great restraint by not posting picture after picture of my new grandson. However, Max's parents had some professional pictures made and they are ADORABLE, if I do say so myself.

Just like any other proud grandparent, I am not bashful about showing off pictures of my latest grandchild. You don't even have to ask. I will ask you, "Have you seen the latest pictures of my new grandbaby?" If you say, "Yes," be prepared to sit/stand there a while. Thanks to my iPhone, I have l..o..t..s of pictures of Max to show other people. I am totally in love with Max (and Parker and Jennifer whose pictures are also on my iPhone) excited, and proud to show them off to friends and strangers alike.

We all have something we are excited about that we don't mind sharing with the world. I think of my oldest son who every time I see him is talking either about his job as an assistant principal or the U of M tigers (his favorite sports team). He loves his job and his tigers so he is not shy about talking about them to whoever, stranger or friend (must admit, I share the excitement about the tigers).

But we also have subjects that we are "shy" about sharing...family finances, family problems, our shortcomings and sins, our spiritual needs, etc. We just don't want the whole world knowing "our business." For many Christians, this list also includes sharing the gospel. We excuse ourselves from sharing our gifts or evangelizing the whole world as commanded in the Bible by saying we are "shy," I have done it for years by saying that talking to strange people is "not my thing." But that is not entirely true. I have been gifted with one of those faces that people trust immediately. I have heard life stories from waitresses, cashiers, people in line at the store, strangers I meet when I walk my dogs, etc. Yet in very few of these conversations do I ever mention God or the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Am I shy or ashamed? Jesus says that at the very least I am disobedient, "And so when they had come together, they were asking Him [Jesus], saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" He [Jesus] said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His won authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

I am to start evangelizing in my hometown (Jerusalem), my county/state (Judea), Samaria (my enemies or people I don't like) and to the even to the remotest part of the earth. We feel okay on mission trips talking to people because we know that we probably won't see them again on this side of heaven, but when it comes to the people we know and, supposedly love, we feel "shy" and don't say a word for fear they will respond, "You're a Christian? I never would have guessed!" The closer people are to us, the scarier it becomes to share our faith because we CARE what they think.

Paul was not "shy," "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'But the righteous shall live by faith.'" (emphasis mine)

When I was first saved, I told everyone I knew and talked of God frequently with those I met. I was as excited about Christ as I am now about my new grandbaby. I told everyone, friends and strangers. But somehow, I lost that enthusiasm. In Revelation 1, the church at Ephesus had the same problem, "But I have this against you that you have left your first love." However, he told the church how to regain that love, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at the first; or else I am coming to you and will remove you lampstand out of its place- unless you repent."

I know that I need to repent because I am keenly aware from where I had fallen and go back to the excitement that I felt when I was a newborn Christian. The same excitement I feel about all my grandchildren.

So which is it? Are we shy or ashamed?