Did you ever have your
mother say this to you when you did some sort of misdeed or acted “You ought to be ashamed of yourself?” And,
speaking for myself, I was. More than once, I might add. That, and
the above scripture, caused me to do some thinking about the word “shame” and “ashamed.” Having done
so, I’m going to share my thoughts with you today.
Interestingly, humans
“blush” when ashamed or embarrassed and we are the only one of God’s creatures
that have that reaction. The great humorist, Mark Twain, once put it this
way: “Humans are the only
creatures that blush, and the only ones that need to.” And,
speaking of both the individual and national state of shame, the vast majority
of this country should be red-faced over our shameful actions.
Many times we humans
blush because we’re “ashamed”
of something we’ve either done or did not do that we should have. But,
another interesting thing is what studies have shown in regards to
blushing. That, like conscience, it can be trained or abused so much that
it ceases to show. What that’s saying is that a person has violated their
conscience or done so many shameful things that they’ve become enured to “shame.”
There’s another common
phrase that I’m sure everyone reading this has heard before and that is: “Have you no shame?”
You know what bothers me? That the answer to that question is “no.”
Both on the individual and national scale. I just don’t think that our
society is “ashamed”
anymore over our conduct and behavior.
I use the words
“individual and national” but in reality, nations are just made up of it’s
individual citizens therefore, as goes the people, so goes the nation.
Just take a moment and reflect upon what’s been happening in our society for
the past few years. Things that most certainly should cause a national
blush.
To say that lifestyles
have become lewd and lascivious is a giant understatement. It seems that
just about anything goes when it comes to sexual activities.
Homosexuality is no longer just being tolerated, but now is embraced. And
the “hot” item in this realm now is the “transgender” orientation. Some
people who are confused as to whether they’re male or female so they want to
change that status one way or the other. Plus, I’ve heard some of them
claim that God caused them to be this way.
But, that isn’t the only
area of aberrant behavior that’s gotten worse over the years. At the
trial of Jesus, Pilate asked the question “What
is truth?” (John 18:38) and I’m of the opinion anymore, that it’s
hard to tell where the truth lies in just about anything. Especially
anything said by a politician or the news media. It’s almost as if their
agenda is to deceive everyone and no one seems to be ashamed when their lying
is exposed. And, on top of that, it seems like society in general expects
everyone to lie and isn’t bothered by it.
You see, we now have an
“enlightened” society. Understand that, as it applies to our lesson here,
“enlightened” simply means “progressive” and that defines a society that
accepts any sort of behavior in which people wish to engage. It’s like
the old phrase “I’m OK, you’re OK.” IE: Whatever lifestyle you choose is
alright with me. I believe that, to our national “shame,” all these
aberrant lifestyles have become the accepted norm. To borrow a phrase
from James 3:10, “My brethren,
these things ought not to be so.” (ESV)
Well, why has our
national morals and norms degenerated to the point where society pretty much
accepts any sort of behavior? To the point that no one seems “ashamed” of what’s
happening around us? I’m sure that several opinions would be put forth by
others, but as for myself, I firmly believe that it’s because society has done
it’s best to remove God from our lives. And when we do that, we remove
the precepts that form the basis for what’s right or wrong.
We’ve even reached the
point that, unless it violates a criminal law (and that changes continually),
we can engage in any sort of behavior and have no “shame” in doing so. When we take God out
of being the basis for knowing right from wrong, then we become just like
ancient Israel where it’s recorded that
“every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Jud.
17:6)
That’s just another way
of saying that man becomes the basis for deciding what behavior is acceptable
or not. And we know that if man’s mind is the author of morals and
behavior, both of those can only deteriorate. I also believe that the
disregard of God’s precepts and commands is, in a sense, mocking Him. And
brethren, that is a very serious situation for your soul to be in.
Solomon tells us that it’s “fools
that make a mockery of sin.” (Prov. 14:9)
Probably the most
definitive passage we can look at in regards to the “fools” who “mock”
God is to read together the words of Gal. 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap.” That just tells me
that those who wish to disregard God, remove His influence on society, feeling
free to live sinful and decadent lifestyles will reap a crop of
shame. The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:10-12 that
everyone will one day be “ashamed”
because they will have to face God and give an account of their actions.
In today’s society, if
we don’t have God to make us ashamed of our behavior, you can rest assured that
other people certainly won’t. To the contrary, we have many who “mock” us for following
God’s Word. And, you know what worries me? That we’ll allow these
mockers to influence us to not speak out about “shameful” behavior. Know that not
speaking out about the “shameful”
practices of society is to give tacit approval of it. I once read a
quotation that said: “To not
say anything is to say something.” Perhaps, as it applies to
this lesson, remaining silent about society’s sinful practices is to say that
we also have no shame any longer.
In closing my thoughts
here today, let me remind you of two passages that are applicable to our
lesson. In Heb. 2:11, the writer talking about the sacrifice of Jesus for
everyone says: “For he who
sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. That is why
he is not ashamed to call them brothers.”
And our second and final
passage, one that sort of wraps up this whole lesson, is found in Luke
9:26. “For 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.”
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
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