God Is Not Ashamed of Who He Is

I was recently listening to a leader of a college ministry speak and he said something that really caught my attention. He said, "God is not ashamed of who he is." He went on to talk about how God presents himself in Job 38. For those of you who never read Job, in chapter 38 the Lord appears after being virtually silent as Job has all of his possessions destroyed, his whole family killed, and is cursing the day he was born as he is ridiculed by his friends. So, God appears and basically says that He is God and Job isn’t. He talks about how he controls and created the entire Universe, and also mentions the fact that Job can’t even comprehend the things He does.

This got me thinking about my own life, because God isn’t subtle about how great He is and how small Job is in this passage. God tells it like it is.. but how often do I chicken out?

If I truly believe that Jesus is God and is the only way, then why do I try and act “normal” so often? Why do I constantly strive to be accepted and to fit in with this world, when Jesus himself tells us in John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to this world it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

I’m tired of chickening out.

I think there are far too many in-the-closet Christians out there today. If you truly believe, like me, that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that he died on the cross for your sins and then three days later rose again.. I don’t see any reason to hide that from anyone.

We shouldn’t fit in this world because we don’t belong here. We should let everyone who comes into contact with us know exactly what we believe, because if we do truly believe it then what do we have to fear here in this world. I think Paul says it best in Galatians 1:10 “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I still trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

So, all I’m getting at here is, be bold about your faith, because you have nothing to lose. If you truly are a follower of Christ you already have the disapproval of this world. If you aren’t willing to be bold about your faith in Jesus Christ I think you should take a step back and take a good hard look at whether you truly believe in Him or not. I’m sorry to inform you that there is not half way. You either believe or you don’t, and I think living it and believing it go hand in hand because if you believe it then you have absolutely no reason to not live it.

Anyone who disagrees should read the book of James some time.. (assuming you still think the Bible is a legit source to go to)