AN INVITATION TO BE BOLD FOR THE GOSPEL (2 OF 6)
Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:8-18
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An Invitation to Be Bold for the Gospel (2 of 6)
Series: 2 Timothy
Robert Dawson
2 Timothy 1:8-18
Years ago, Rolling Stone Magazine interviewed the lead singer, Tanya Donelly, from a popular Grammy-nominated alternative rock band, Belly. In that interview the singer made an interesting observation. They said ''for some reason, God is embarrassing to people. It doesn't embarrass somebody to talk about how they got completely bombed the night before and puked/sick all over themselves, but God is a really embarrassing subject, and that's kind of strange.''
There is some great insight in that rather crude observation. There is truth in that observation. There are a lot of people and I do mean a lot of people for whom God is a very uncomfortable and embarrassing subject. Unfortunately, this is true for many Christians. God and the Gospel, even for believers, are uncomfortable and even embarrassing subjects.
At some point we can all identify with Courtney Ellis who shares this personal story:
When I attended graduate school for English, there were many occasions when my fellow students openly ridiculed the name of Christ. To my great detriment, I stayed silent. I was quite vocal about my belief in Christ at church and with my friends, but I was terrified of what might happen to my reputation if the people at my school found out I believed in Jesus. … Most of them were just ignorant about who Jesus is. Several of them had never even met a Christian before and assumed that all Christians were the uneducated, judgmental stereotypes we sometimes see in the media. Yet, I was still afraid. As the program went on, I began to feel guiltier for these silences. If I couldn't be obedient to Christ in such a central thing, how would I be able to serve him in other ways? God was faithful in my rocky road to obedience-opportunities to speak up for Christ continued to come my way. One day a fellow student asked me flat out-right before class, when many other people wer ...
Series: 2 Timothy
Robert Dawson
2 Timothy 1:8-18
Years ago, Rolling Stone Magazine interviewed the lead singer, Tanya Donelly, from a popular Grammy-nominated alternative rock band, Belly. In that interview the singer made an interesting observation. They said ''for some reason, God is embarrassing to people. It doesn't embarrass somebody to talk about how they got completely bombed the night before and puked/sick all over themselves, but God is a really embarrassing subject, and that's kind of strange.''
There is some great insight in that rather crude observation. There is truth in that observation. There are a lot of people and I do mean a lot of people for whom God is a very uncomfortable and embarrassing subject. Unfortunately, this is true for many Christians. God and the Gospel, even for believers, are uncomfortable and even embarrassing subjects.
At some point we can all identify with Courtney Ellis who shares this personal story:
When I attended graduate school for English, there were many occasions when my fellow students openly ridiculed the name of Christ. To my great detriment, I stayed silent. I was quite vocal about my belief in Christ at church and with my friends, but I was terrified of what might happen to my reputation if the people at my school found out I believed in Jesus. … Most of them were just ignorant about who Jesus is. Several of them had never even met a Christian before and assumed that all Christians were the uneducated, judgmental stereotypes we sometimes see in the media. Yet, I was still afraid. As the program went on, I began to feel guiltier for these silences. If I couldn't be obedient to Christ in such a central thing, how would I be able to serve him in other ways? God was faithful in my rocky road to obedience-opportunities to speak up for Christ continued to come my way. One day a fellow student asked me flat out-right before class, when many other people wer ...
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