True disciples stand publicly for Jesus Christ—his words, his righteousness, and his gospel—even when it brings persecution.
The willingness to stand publicly with and for Jesus Christ is essential if we would be his true disciples. For Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).
Our public stance regarding Jesus reveals what we value most.
For instance, if a man asks a woman to marry him, and he gives her a $10,000 wedding ring, will his fiancé be ashamed to wear her ring, or will she proudly wear that ring and hope others see it?
Or if a computer science major graduates college and gets a job working for Google, will she hide the identity of her employer? Or will she proudly wear company shirts and hats bearing the company logo?
We gladly go public with what we are proud of.
Supremely proud of God
When we have the privilege of becoming a Christian, with the God of heaven and earth as our Father and the Son of God as our Savior, that is something more worthy of boasting over than a trophy spouse or employer.
True disciples of Christ are more proud of God and his Son and their words, their gospel, and their righteousness than of anything else in the world. Our Savior suffered and died for our sins and has risen to the right hand of God where he rules heaven and earth as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
In contrast, suppose a woman living in a small town has a father who is a notorious rapist or murderer. Would she gladly tell people her last name? Would she gladly talk about her family? No, she would be ashamed, to the point of hiding her identity.
When Christians are ashamed of Jesus, they act as though there is something bad about him.
God does not accept that shame. He does not accept that dishonor, for he is worthy of our being proud of him, not ashamed of him.
Our culture’s growing rejection of Jesus
Again, Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).
Notice Jesus speaks of two causes of shame: (1) Jesus himself, and (2) the words of Jesus. The words of Jesus include the message of his gospel about how to be saved from the guilt of sin, and his teaching about right and wrong, that is, his teaching about righteousness.
Increasingly the secular cultures of the West reject and scorn Jesus and his words. They describe those who follow Jesus as bigoted, arrogant, intolerant, judgmental, unkind, at odds with science, on the wrong side of history about sexuality, unconcerned about the rights of women, and so on. To stand publicly with Christ can mean being cancelled, losing your job or your opportunities for advancement with your company, being mocked and slandered, being unfriended, hated, and cut off. There is a price to be paid for publicly standing for Jesus and his words.
Yet Jesus calls true disciples to pay that price willingly. He said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33).
Here Jesus says unambiguously that if we deny him publicly, then we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. He will deny us.
He said the same thing positively: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).
Those willing to be persecuted for Jesus enter heaven; they are saved. So Jesus states plainly that how we relate to him in public is how he will speak to the Father about us. If you want Jesus to be proud of you when you stand on Judgment Day, then you be proud of him now in public.
True disciples are not cowards
For the first three hundred years after Jesus ascended to heaven, the world persecuted the church. The Book of Revelation was written to Christians suffering persecution. After describing the beauties of the heavenly age to come, the apostle John writes,
“The one who conquers [that is, the one who stays loyal to Christ despite persecution] will have this heritage [life in the new creation], and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:7–8).
What? Does being a coward send people to hell? In the Book of Revelation cowardice refers to the unwillingness to be persecuted for Christ. For example, Jesus says to the church in Smyrna:
“I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death” (Revelation 2:9–11).
Yet God forgives those who repent of cowardice
In cowardice, the apostle Peter denied Christ three times during the Lord’s trial.
“Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus the Galilean.’ But he denied it before them all, saying, ‘I do not know what you mean.’ And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, ‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’ And again he denied it with an oath: ‘I do not know the man.’ After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, ‘I do not know the man.’ And immediately the rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.” (Matthew 26:69–75)
Peter repented of his fear and shame, and God forgave him.
Cowardice and being ashamed of Christ is a sin we need to confess and repent of like any other serious sin. With true repentance we confess, ask forgiveness, and then ask for grace to be bold and courageous in public for him. With God’s help, true disciples change.