Ashamed of the one who ends shame
I have two sets of verses for you this week. They both say the same thing in slightly different ways, and deciding between them was a bit like deciding between the Jaguar in British Racing Green or the one in Claret. For once, we get to say "We've got space; I'll take them both."
“Whoever, then, acknowledges me before people, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.
“I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before God’s angels. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels.
These verses come after Jesus has been talking to people about not being afraid of persecution. He's basically saying "Look, people are going to turn on you. They will try to end your life or make it difficult. You've got to be strong." And then, surprisingly, in this week's gorgeously matching verses, he basically says "If you reject me, I will reject you." Ouch.
It's easy to be cheap with these verses though. People often misread them to mean that we have to make a spectacle of our Christianity. ("If you're not wearing your cross necklace on the outside of your Christian T-shirt when you go to class, or carrying your Bible to the office, Jesus will reject you!")
But how many people have we met who make a point of telling everyone they meet that they are Christians, while being obnoxious and judgmental? There's more to being a Christian than saying "I'm a Christian" every chance we get. Jesus isn't running some kind of "affiliate program" where we earn salvation based on how many times we mention that we're Christians. Instead, Jesus is talking about something deeper.
In some "old world" cultures, social class and ethnicity are really important. There are still places where interracial marriages, or marriages between social classes are forbidden. The children who violate those rules are disowned, or murdered in "honor killings." But at the same time, people still notice each other and start relationships and then find themselves facing a terrible choice. ("I want to marry you, but how can I? Nobody can ever see us together, or my father will have us killed.")
We even see a more selfish variant of that in our modern cultures. Maybe a guy likes a girl, but his friends think she's kind of ugly, or a girl likes a guy, but he's unpopular or unemployable. Maybe one of them is the other's boss. Maybe one of them is famous. They get together, but they're not really "together" together.
That's the situation Jesus is talking about with us and him. Maybe we're a little self-conscious or ashamed. Maybe we're not really fully into him. Or maybe we stand to be tortured to death if people find out we're Christian. So we do what people do and distance ourselves a little bit. ("The Bible is a really great book...as metaphor. I mean I don't take any of it literally. Who am I to say what is true, right?" "I assure you I am not a Christian. You're confusing me with someone else. I will sign anything, just don't shoot me.")
We're in a relationship, but we're afraid of what others might think or do if they found out who it was with. It's natural to feel that as social beings. The problem isn't the fear, but the fact that we let it become more important than our love for Christ. If something else is always bigger than our desire to be joined with him, we're not really that into him. So, in these verses, Jesus is basically saying "Either you be open about us, or we're done."
And that brings us to acknowledgement. If you're married, and faithful to your spouse, but you take your wedding ring off and hide it when you get to work, are you acknowledging the marriage? In our relationship with God, there are certain things which we hold valuable, or which are outward evidence of his possession of us. If we hide them, or pretend we don't believe certain things in order to get along, isn't that a bit like taking off the ring and hiding it?
If we're bound by grace, but we go around judging everybody while saying, "I'm a Christian! I'm a Christian," are we acknowledging the covenant that binds us to him? On the surface we may be acknowledging him with words, but we're not acknowledging him as the bride of Christ. And that should scare us a little.
And this is where two shiny sets of gospel verses are better than one. In Matthew, Jesus is talking about his Father in heaven. In those verses, failure to acknowledge him means an end to our happy future together as part of his family. We're the princess who marries some boring courtier picked out for her by her parents instead of the fairy tale hero. We lose the happy ending.
But in Luke, Jesus is talking about God's angels. Remember, God's angels aren't like they are portrayed on greeting cards. He's not mentioning them so that we'll feel guilty when the fat kid with wings gets home from band camp with his harp and starts crying when he is told we won't be joining them for eternity.
No, the angels are God's enforcers. They are his "muscle." People are consistently terrified when they encounter them in the Bible. They're like sci fi monsters. So when he says that we'll be denied before them, it is possible he's talking about the scene where the unsaved get thrown into the lake of fire. Picture horrific sci fi monster bouncers throwing billions of shocked souls into the lake of fire, and realizing your name is not on the guest list either!
So, where in Matthew, we lose the happy ending, in Luke we see Hell. It's the carrot and the stick. Do embarrassment and martyrdom really seem like a big deal in the context of these two scenarios?
So that should give us something to think about. Do we take our relationship with God seriously, even around people who don't? Are we willing to face danger in order to keep that relationship? And are we willing to be the same person in public as we imagine ourselves to be when we're reading the Bible? If not, there will be no end to the shame and suffering.
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