Day 5: How To Not Be Ashamed?

Your whole family has been called on mission. Whether it is you living out your faith in your new cross-cultural community, or your kids, what does that look like when it's actually terrifying to proclaim the gospel?

Growing up, this was actually a question I asked myself. I was thrilled as a missionary kid to see people coming to know Christ, but I sometimes felt inadequate and afraid to share the gospel myself. How can you equip your own kids to better share the gospel, as well as learn your own role in it as a messenger? My parents actually helped keep this question at the forefront of our family life. What does it look like for you to do so in your family? 

"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." - Romans 1:16

Chances are, you've heard this verse before. It's one of those verses that seems to be a Christian anthem, and it is so well-known for good reason. This verse, and the one that follows as well, stands as a core theme of the entire book of Romans, since the epistle is one about God (Morris 66). This first verse points out one of his attributes at work in the gospel, and verse 17 highlights another. 

Power.

God's power is at work in the gospel. Paul had been persecuted for standing strongly by the message of the Gospel - he was laughed at in Athens, put in prison in Philippi and had to flee from Thessalonica, and that's only the beginning (Morris 66). People in Corinth even considered the words of Paul to be "the foolishness of the word of the cross" (1 Corinthians 1:18), and it's natural that there might be "some degree of embarrassment about the gospel", as Moo points out in his commentary (Moo 65). Yet despite all of these circumstances, Paul himself says he is still not ashamed of the gospel being proclaimed in Rome. 

So if everyone else tends towards embarrassment about the gospel, what makes Paul's response any different? He sees that it's God's power that leads to salvation (Moo 66). And this power has direction. Towards what? Towards salvation. God's power is not some abstract entity that is separated from himself or vague and scattered over the earth. No, his power issues in salvation (Morris 67). 

This gospel of salvation is offered universally to all who believe; it has no limits in the scope of its proclamation and offer, but its restriction is for those who believe. To believe is to "put full trust in the God who justifies the ungodly" (Moo 67). And although we are called to repentance and faith, we also recognize that those actions are not works that bring us to salvation. Rather, it is the power of God that works in us to will and to act according to his purposes.

Remember that to live a life characterized by the gospel and its proclamation, you don't follow a list of to-do's and checklists. Ultimately, it is God's power that brings salvation. Rely on his character and promises. 

And how do we respond, and invite others to as well? By faith. As Calvin states, "faith is a kind of vessel with which we come empty and with the mouth of our soul open to seek God's grace" (Moo 67). There is no shame in proclaiming the gospel - because God's power works in it and through it. 

I hope that this encourages not only your kids as they make new friends who don't know Jesus yet - at school, in their neighborhood and beyond; but also, I pray this encourages you today too. 

Also, if you're looking for a good resource to help go through gospel truths with your children, and then in turn teach them to share the hope they have with others, I find this to be helpful: 10 Essential Gospel Truths. 

Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. Print.

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1988. Print.