“So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.” – 2 Timothy 1:8
Are you ready to suffer for the gospel? Are you really??? If you aren’t, you’d better get ready! The temptation to be embarrassed or ashamed to be associated with Christ and Christianity is likely to increase dramatically. The social cost of being a faithful Christian is rising. It will increase as our culture collectively repudiates the antics, behaviors, claims, and failings of many self-appointed Christian leaders who have forgotten how to follow Christ. It will increase as the traditional faith delivered once for all time becomes further and further separated from the prevailing spirit of our times trumpeting radical autonomy and celebrating whatever is right in anyone’s eyes.
It will be increasingly tempting to muffle, hide, or explain away clinging to the cross of Christ with its incredibly out-of-fashion emphasis on the blood of Jesus shed as a penalty for sin – something our culture doesn’t even believe in. It will be tempting to hide our church affiliation as faithful Christians are targeted for scorn and legal action.
While the first suffering will be social – the contempt of unbelievers for the perceived foolishness of the gospel, the labeling as a hater of others, and the resentment toward all Christians because of hypocrites who too often speak for Christ – the cost of the gospel will only continue to rise. In our culture, if you don’t affirm everything anyone says, you’ll eventually be condemned as a bigot. Are you ready to be condemned? Are you ready to be deemed a threat to modern values? Are you ready to be treated as a threat with legal opposition and persecution for speaking or living your beliefs?
Of course not! None of us are ready in our own strength. However, if we believe and proclaim the gospel, then God’s power will fill and strengthen us to endure. God will be revealed through our weakness, not our strength! I pray that God would prepare every follower of Jesus to suffer for the gospel, leaning not on their own strength, but on His power. God willing, when we do learn to resolutely suffer for the gospel in God’s power, that power will be poured out in a revival unlike any we’ve ever seen before in history. Get ready!