A HEALTHY SHAME

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

2 Thessalonians 3:14-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever felt ashamed over something you may have done?

I think all of would say that we’re been there at one time or another. We’re imperfect people and therefore many of our actions are imperfect. It’s going to happen because we all have sinned (Romans 3:23).

And yet, Christian believers aren’t to allow shame to dominate their hearts and minds. The Lord knows that it’s extremely unhealthy to do so and therefore made the way for us to eliminate shame when it comes upon us. That way is called repentance.

Repentance isn’t some complex theological task the Lord expects us to carry out. Rather, it is as simple as our tendency to sin itself. All we need to do is to initiate it, coming before the Lord and confessing what we have done wrong, the source of our shame feelings. We then need to commit to not repeat the sin we just confessed.

Or as Jesus put it as He dismissed the adulteress who narrowly escaped execution by stoning:

“Go and sin no more.” John 8:11

Shame that drives a Christian believer to confession and repentance is healthy. It leads to a positive result, the Jesus follower getting right with their Lord. And as we see in today’s penultimate message from 2 Thessalonians, we find the Apostle Paul sanctioning actions that would bring on this positive onset of disgrace and dishonor. Look again at his words here:

Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer (3:14-15).

Paul’s letter intended to provide important instructions to the Thessalonian church and its members, instructions that would ensure they were living for Christ the right way while carrying out His calling. The expectation was every Jesus follower in Thessalonica would get onboard with the direction and carry it out.

But within the Thessalonian congregation, as we also see in the church today, no matter how well the guidance of the Lord is taught through the preaching and teaching of the Word through the leading of the Holy Spirit, there are Christians who will choose to live in disobedient to the Lord’s will and way.

How should the church handle these individuals?

The scriptures tell us that the church isn’t to associate with them, not without stating the reason, but rather warning them about the sin they have fallen into.

Why?

So that they might feel ashamed and want to turn away from their wrongdoing to once again feel they are a part of the beloved body of Christ.

Now, note that this was to be carried out the right way so that the shame would be spiritually healthy in nature. The disobedient believer wasn’t to be excommunicated or vilified. They weren’t the enemy of the church but rather in opposition with God, the God of mercy and grace and forgiveness.

When we sin against God and stray from His Word and will, He doesn’t cut us off from Him forever. Rather, He convicts us of our sin, causing a healthy shame in our heart and mind intended to bring us to admission of our sins and a commitment to abandon those sins in order to change for the better.

Friends, all Christians are sinners. We all fail and fall, therefore we will experience a healthy shame as we stand before the Lord who despises sin and yet forgives and saves. If the Lord pardons us when we come to Him and repent, then we need to pardon ourselves for He has removed the guilt from us. He has forgotten our transgression so why should we keep remembering it and condemning ourselves?

Satan, our true enemy, wants us to persevere in guilt because it cripples and disables our full ability to carry out our Gospel-sharing calling. Don’t allow him to try and convince you that the Lord hasn’t forgiven you. Accept and embrace His absolution with thanksgiving and get back into the fight because there are so many lost souls who need to hear the good news of God’s redemption and salvation for sinners through belief in His Son, the Savior and Lamb who came and took away the sin of the world (John 3:16, 1:29).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com