“If Christianity today is losing its influence, the reason may be that the church consists of soft pews, soft music, and soft soap.” So said Pastor John C. Jeske one time in the Presbyterian Journal.
We must never so water down our message as Christians that it loses its cleansing power. We must fight the temptation to be apologetic and even ashamed of the old-fashioned message of our need and God’s answer to that need—the suffering, death, and resurrection of his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul warned Timothy of the same thing when he said, “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord” (2 Timothy 1:8). There are many things we should be ashamed of. We should be ashamed of our half-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ. We should be ashamed of our inconsistent lives. We should be ashamed of our weak and anemic faith. We should be ashamed of our cold and indifferent spirits. We should be ashamed of our cowardly silence when we should speak up for Christ.
But there is one thing we should never be ashamed of and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. It is the only way that we can be redeemed, homes can be saved, and society can be reformed. Apart from Jesus Christ, people and our society are hopelessly and helplessly lost.
What is the Gospel? It is the good news that the Savior has come. He is Jesus of Nazareth. Through his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension, he is our Redeemer, our Lord, and our God. Anyone who will repent of his sins and receive him into their lives can have his sins forgiven and can become one of God’s children.
The Gospel is worthy of our highest and best. It is worth believing. It is worth defending. It is worth preaching. May we then never be ashamed of it but proudly live it, defend it, and proclaim it.