Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - When You're Ashamed to be a Christian | New Testament | 2 Timothy 1

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Have you ever felt ashamed of Jesus or of other believers? Are you sometimes embarrassed to say you are a Christians? Maybe you're ashamed by the way other Christians act. In today's episode, Keith looks at 2 Timothy 1 where Paul exhorts Timothy who was tempted to be ashamed. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Timothy 1

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Today we start the New Testament book of 2nd Timothy. Many people believe that 2nd Timothy is the last New Testament letter that Paul wrote before his death at the hands of the Roman government. Not long after it was written, Paul is believed to be executed, probably beheaded at the orders of the Emperor Nero.

So who is Timothy that this book is named after? In 1 Corinthians, Paul calls Timothy his beloved and faithful child in the Lord. And later in that book, he says of Timothy, I became your father through the gospel. So when we connect the dots, we think that when Paul visited Leicester, Timothy's hometown, he led Timothy to faith in Christ. Then when Paul returned to Leicester on his second missionary journey, Acts 16 says that he found that all the Christians in that area spoke well of Timothy. So this led Paul to invite Timothy to join him on his missionary team.

Now, by the time that Paul writes 2 Timothy, many years have passed since he began working with Paul. And now Paul is in prison and Timothy is the pastor of the church in Ephesus. You get the feeling that Paul knows the end of his life is near. In the past, he'd been in jail, but always with the expectation he'd be released. You don't hear that note of expectation in 2 Timothy. there have been occasions when Paul had been under house arrest, meaning he got to live in his own quarters while under guard. That's not the case now. Paul is in a cold, dark, Roman prison. So I want you to imagine Paul's sitting there in that Roman prison, knowing the end of his life is

near. He's reflecting on his life and he's sharing some last instructions and words of encouragement to one of his most devoted disciples. We'll pick up in chapter 1 verse 8 when Paul writes this. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. So Paul starts by saying, don't be ashamed of Jesus or of me. Now, why would Timothy be ashamed? Well, today the cross is turned into jewelry, but in the first century, crucifixion was a shameful way to die. It was only used for the worst criminals.

crucifixion was considered obscene, so in polite society, people refused to talk about it. The Greeks considered themselves to be very sophisticated, and to them the idea that a Jewish man could be crucified for the sins of the world just seems silly. I think the same thing exists today, where people look down on Christians as being naive. Like, do you really believe the Bible? Do you really believe God created the world? Do you really believe in the virgin birth or the bodily resurrection of Jesus? In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul says that every Christian must be willing to be a fool for Christ's sake.

Now, that doesn't mean that we don't use our mind or we believe crazy stuff with no evidence. Remember, Jesus said to love God with our heart and our mind. But it does mean that the Christian faith is never going to make sense to the culture. It never has, and it never will. There will always be people who think we are fools for following Jesus. But it's not just Jesus, Timothy, isn't to be ashamed of. Let me reread verse 8. Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.

Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. So Timothy wasn't to be ashamed of Jesus, but he's also not to be ashamed of Paul, who right now is in chains. It's possible for us to be okay with Jesus, but to be ashamed of other Christians, to be ashamed of the church. We learned a little bit later in this chapter that Paul's other companions had deserved. him. Even though it wasn't the right thing to do, you can see why they did. I mean, it was shameful to be in prison. Plus, they were probably afraid that if they were seen associating with Paul,

they would end up in prison too. I admit that there are times when I'm ashamed of other Christians. Now, there's nothing wrong with being ashamed of sinful behavior practiced by other Christians, but I would warn you that it's easy to be more bothered by other people's sins than your own. So start by examining your own heart. But after we've done that, It's okay to admit that Christians have behaved sinfully and dishonored Christ, and that includes us. But that's not why Timothy was ashamed of Paul. Paul hadn't dishonored Christ through immoral or unethical behavior.

No, Timothy was tempted to distance himself from Paul because Paul was in prison. See, we want our faith to be respected. We want to be respected. And having Christian leaders in prison, well, that brings disrespect, dishonor on us. So from his prison cell, Paul calls Timothy to join with him in suffering for the gospel if that's what's necessary. Do you hear that call? I mean, Paul is writing directly to Timothy, but I think he's writing to us also. Let's be clear, though.

Paul isn't saying that we should choose to suffer. Here's Oswald Chambers. To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong. To choose God's will, even if it means suffering, is a very different thing. no healthy saint ever chooses suffering. He chooses God's will, as Paul did, whether it means suffering or not. So Paul ended his life in a Roman prison, but suffering for the sake of the gospel defined Paul's whole life. When Paul became a Christian on the road to Damascus, God sent Ananias to him, and he said to Ananias,

Go, this man Paul is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name. And then Paul described his ministry like this. He says, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not given to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you. And then Paul told the Philippians that this is part of what it means to be a Christian. He says this in Philippians 1, for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him. Suffering isn't just for super Christians. Later in 2 Timothy, he says, in fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Jesus himself said that suffering was a blessing. In the beatitudes, he said, Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Suffering is never pleasurable. But the pain of suffering can be eased if you don't have to go through it alone. In other words, if you can share your suffering with others. That's one reason Paul is calling Timothy to join

with him in suffering. When the church first started, the disciples were arrested together. They were imprisoned together. They were interrogated together, beaten together, and suffered together. Here's Acts 5. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And that brings us back to that Roman prison, right before his death. Paul writes to Timothy and to us, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, rather join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. Are you ashamed of Jesus or of other Christians? Maybe we are ashamed and embarrassed to say that we follow Jesus and take His commandments seriously because that puts us at odds with the culture we live in. Or maybe we're

ashamed of other Christians in the way they act. It's easy to fall into the trap to make sure that everyone knows that we're Christians, but we're not like those Christians, whoever they are. Maybe we're ashamed of the gospel and how it says that we're all sinners and that Jesus is the only savior. People don't want to hear that they're so sinful that they can't save themselves, and they don't want to hear that there's only one way to God. To them, that sounds too exclusive and too narrow. The temptation to be ashamed is real. If Timothy hadn't struggled with it, Paul wouldn't have exhorted him to not be ashamed. And if Paul hadn't ever struggled with his temptation, he would never have said in Romans 1,

for I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith. If this weren't a temptation that we all struggle with, Jesus wouldn't have warned us. If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his father's glory with the holy angels. May God fill us with His Spirit, and may we follow Jesus in spite of the shame and suffering

that may come our way. Amen.