embarrassed..

[shep83]

For me my faith is a very personal thing, something I only share with the closest people in my life yet sometimes when having conversations with friends and such I find myself denying my faith to fit In.. I understand this is wrong but find the idea of discussing my most intimate religious beliefs with non belive s to be quite awkward and a little embarrassing.. dose this make we a bad Christian?

 

[cerette]

We most certainly should not be ashamed of Christ, or deny Him in front of people. If you feel uncomfortable talking to them about your faith, then don't. Just keep quiet rather than lie and say you don't believe. I would also encourage you to pray for strength to stand up for the truth, to dare to admit to being a believer if the question comes up. It would also be beneficial to hang out with other Christians, perhaps there is someone your age or maybe older who could be a good role model for you and who could support you?
Don't deny Christ. There are severe warnings in the Bible to those who deny Him.

 

[dhh712]

For me my faith is a very personal thing, something I only share with the closest people in my life yet sometimes when having conversations with friends and such I find myself denying my faith to fit In.. I understand this is wrong but find the idea of discussing my most intimate religious beliefs with non belive s to be quite awkward and a little embarrassing.. dose this make we a bad Christian?

I hope you will not deny Him again! I know it can be a difficult thing to look foolish before those worldly people who love the wisdom of the world, but whose respect do you want more? The world's, or God's? I'm sure it is God's that you want. One of the best ways we can glorify God is by professing Christ before those of the world!

I hope you will beg forgiveness if you haven't already and pray that He will put you in a position again where you can confess Christ before the unbelievers who mock Him. I was in a similar position with my brother last Christmas who hates the Christian God and by the grace of God I did not deny Him, though it hurt to be derided by him and called an idiot, one by whose worldly wisdom I had let go of studying the Bible.

They will hate you and call you an idiot. This is God's promise to us. But He called us to be separate from the world, to separate ourselves from it's foolishness and to instead partake of the foolishness of the word which is the beginning of knowledge. Remember that those who deny Christ before the world, He will deny before His Father.

That being said, it is not the way to salvation--only by being in Christ can we have eternal communion with God. Yet by not denying Him we demonstrate our love for Him and do we not crave for opportunities to do just that? Just as in an earthly relationship with a significant other, do we not yearn for opportunities to show our love for that other person? Pray to God to strengthen you in this, diligently search His word every day. Only He can give you the strength and wisdom to overcome these things.

 

[Harry3142]

There's an old saying: "Fear the God you don't see at least as much as you fear the people you do see." Even if you don't want to discuss your faith with others, at least give God the respect he has earned from us by confessing your belief if directly asked.

As for your faith, you need to ask yourself a very serious question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ came among us, and then offered himself as the perfect sacrifice of atonement for the sins of mankind, or do you believe in Jesus Christ's coming among us, and then offering himself as the perfect sacrifice of atonement for the sins of mankind? It is not our belief that Jesus accomplished these things which saves us. That is nothing more than an intellectual exercise. Instead, it is our believing in Jesus' having done these things which saves us. That involves our putting our trust in the ability of his sacrifice to cleanse us of our sins:

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished - he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:19-26,NIV)

First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:8-14,NIV)

 

[Emmyc]

I used to be an atheist and all my friends are Christians. We sued to badmouth Christians all the time because they were judgmental and persecuted gays. We talked about how could anyone worship a God who would torture innocent people for all eternity for happening to be born a different religion. I would always say "I don't know what I am but I am not christian". As you can see my friends and I had a very low view on Christians. but in reality most Christians are very nice people who try to do the right thing, and if your friends don't know that yet it's probably because they don't know you're a christian.

We need to be open and honest about our faith not only because Jesus commands us to, but because Christians have gotten a bad rap. If only those on the far end of the spectrum get any attention and the rest of us let ourselves be embarrassed to be called a Christian then that bad reputation will go on.

Let your friends know you are okay with them the way they a re and won't try to convert them, and let them know you're a Christian if it comes up.... but you don't have to make excuses to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable.

 

[Peripatetic]

Some are more comfortable sharing faith than others. That's not necessarily a measure of faith. In fact, the Bible talks about different gifts of the Holy Spirit, including some who are more naturally gifted in evangelism. Perhaps you could start with minor adjustments. Rather than denying, maybe be silent or just say that it's a private matter. Over time, perhaps you will be able to speak about it here and there when asked. When you are in prayer time, it might be a good idea to really think about why you are embarrassed. God already knows your heart, so there's no need to shy away from the topic.

 

[jannikitty]

I once felt the same way. I think I did because my mother always cautioned me against getting into conversations about religion or politics. (not necessarily good advice but this is how she thought). Then a friend shared a scripture with me that virtually changed my life. I do share my stories of faith much more freely; but I always pray that the timing is right before I share. Actually some people just seem more ready to listen than others. So, praying for discerning and wisdom is something I often do. Some settings are much more conducive to sharing than others.

Here is the scripture my friend shared with me. May it bless you.

II Timothy 1:7.." For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."

 

[Emmy]

Dear shep83. It is understandable that you feel embarrassed to talk about Religion, but you could ask Jesus to help you overcome this feeling. I say this with love, Satan and his followers will really love this. Perhaps you could wear a small cross, and by your behaviour: always loving and kind, you could show your love for Jesus our Saviour. Tell Jesus and He will help you.
Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[Good grief]

REAL MEN LOVE JESUS

 

[Willie T]

Want to hear something that should scare you?

If you KNEW you would receive nine thousand dollars, (cash money) every time you talked about believing in Jesus.... how often do you suppose you would be "embarrassed" to talk about Jesus? Not very often, I imagine.

Now that should be the most embarrassing thing to cross your mind today. You see, it's not really a "deeply personal thing" as so many of us try to claim. Rather, it's the fear that we will be rejected, or ostracized, or made fun of that REALLY keeps us from sharing Jesus with others.......... because, if we really believed that "$9,000 thing", we would want others to be able to share in the free gift, too.

And, if we KNEW people would slap us on the back, and invite us to go skiing with them when they found out how much we loved Jesus........... You couldn't keep our mouth shut.

Do we value Jesus' gift as much as that hypothetical money, and don't we want others to get in on it? I suspect that maybe we don't.