A glorious truth declared from a lady delivered from lesbianism: “God never calls you by your shame, folks. He’s calling you by your name.” If there was ever a word for Christianity to shout from rooftops all across the globe today, it is that one! Definition of shame: ‘humiliation, mortification, chagrin, ignominy, loss of face, shamefacedness, embarrassment, indignity, abashment, discomfort, discomfiture, discomposure, guilt, remorse, contrition, compunction.’ A common belief among Christians is that it’s unbelief, pride and rebellion that stops people from turning to God. Whilst that’s true, it’s not the entire truth.
Shame stops people from turning to God too. Worse than that, shame often causes people to run and hide from Him! They may not want to run and hide, but they believe they have no alternative. That’s what we see by the actions of the first man and woman in Genesis 3. What did they learn however? They learned it was not possible for them to run and hide and that’s the word Bible Christians must pass on to all burdened by shame. In addition, we must give them the word of Jesus, Come to Me, all you who are heavy laden (overburdened), and I will give you rest Matthew 11:28. The misguided thinking of most people burdened with shame is that God would say to them, “Go from Me,” not, Come to Me. I have been a witness to such thinking multiple times throughout the last 34 years!
Where does the “Go from Me” mentality come from? Primarily it comes from the Arch-enemy of Jesus Christ and all mankind, the serpentine spirit from Eden’s garden, known as Satan the devil. Whether one knows it or not, shame is the “wage” one receives from him when one yields to his lies, temptations, deceit and craftiness instead of yielding to the God-given voice of conscience placed within. It’s increasingly fashionable these days for people to say there is no such thing as right and wrong, but don’t believe them, for they don’t believe it! Most people’s conscience tells them otherwise no matter how hard they work at trying to deny it. One doesn’t have to be a trained psychiatrist or psychologist to explain the high levels of drug, alcohol dependency and sickness in world societies.
Churches dismissing the biblical Jesus in favor of another Jesus possess a, “Go from Me,” mentality. Their people are told that if they fail to commit to the traditions, doctrines and practices of the one true church then they can never get to Jesus no matter what the Bible declares to the contrary. Some of the worst sufferers of shame I’ve encountered were once members of such “churches” having been brought up in them from childhood. Their experience of shame was double-barreled – shame for violating their conscience and shame for never being able to meet the church’s standards. Of course, such “churches” belong to the serpentine spirit from Eden’s garden too, but the shame-sufferers don’t believe that because the actual reality of such a spirit has been dismissed as a myth!
“God is angry with me,” said a young lady trapped in a “Go from Me” mentality. This was her reply when sharing the love of God and His gift of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ. With that statement she hurried inside and closed the door. As I walked away I strongly sensed from the Lord that shame was her reason for saying it because “prostitute” came to mind. Later I dropped into her letterbox a detailed note with a list of Scriptures, that if she sincerely acted upon them with a contrite and humble heart she would without doubt, know the love and forgiveness of God. Yes, God is angry with us as sinners; that’s why Jesus came to earth – to turn sinners into saints! The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out John 6:37.
Many people I’ve encountered burdened by shame have been those who were brought up in the 1950’s and 60’s era, a time when society’s God-consciousness was much more pervasive than today’s society. The reason they possessed a “Go from Me” mentality was largely due to parents or guardians, priests or nuns telling them, “God is watching you,” every time they stepped out of line. “That’s been ringing in my ears since I was kid,” some would say. Perhaps in reality there was little to be ashamed of when they began hearing that the first few times, but I have no doubt that was ringing in their ears as adolescents and adults after yielding to temptations placed before them by the serpentine spirit from Eden’s garden, especially those of a sexual nature!
To tell a child, “God is watching you,” but leaving it at that, does not honor God, it dishonors Him; especially so if accompanied with a stern voice and facial expression. If that’s all a child hears and sees growing up, that’s the concept of God they’ll develop into adulthood, running the risk then of passing it on to their own children. It will either be that or there’ll be no mention of God at all in that home. Should the latter be the reality, the moment their child asks a question about God, the answer given will either be false or the question dismissed. Something not to dismiss: children will ask questions about God for God has placed questions in their young minds. Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven Matthew 19:14.
Is God watching us? Yes. The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the children of men Psalm 33:13. The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good Proverbs 15:3. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil 1 Peter 3:12. Quote: “The great truths of divinity are of great use to enforce the precepts of morality, and none more than this – that the eye of God is always upon the children of men. 1. An eye to discern all, not only from which nothing can be concealed, but by which everything is actually inspected, and nothing overlooked or looked slightly upon:…..for He not only sees all from on high, but He is everywhere present………”
Continued: “Angels are full of eyes (Revelation 4:8), but God is all eye. It denotes not only His omniscience, that He sees all, but His universal providence, that He upholds and governs all. Secret sins, services, and sorrows, are under his eye. 2. An eye to distinguish both persons and actions. He beholds the evil and the good, is displeased with the evil and approves of the good, and will judge men according to the sight of His eyes, Psalm 1:6; Psalm 11:4. The wicked shall not go unpunished, nor the righteous unrewarded, for God has His eye upon both and knows their true character; this speaks as much comfort to saints as terror to sinners.” – Matthew Henry. (Underline mine). The word “good” in Scripture refers to the divine standard, not the human standard.
Fact: for the church to be meaningful in society again it must itself sincerely repent and get delivered from the shame of spiritual cowardice, and then get back to preaching the whole counsel of God Acts 20:27. Start again by preaching The 10 Commandments! 1. Have no other God’s before the biblical God. 2. Make no idols to bow down and serve. 3. Don’t take the name of the LORD our God in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (every day for Christians). 5. Honor our parents. 6. Don’t murder. 7. Don’t commit adultery. 8. Don’t steal. 9. Don’t bear false witness against our neighbor. 10. Don’t covet Exodus 20:1-17. This is the standard of God and it has never changed. This standard, God faces us all with and there are no exceptions.
The first 4 Commandments should be soundly labored upon so that those listening are left in no doubt about the righteousness and justice of the true God. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding Proverbs 9:10. If the church does its job properly here, the last 6 Commandments will largely take care of themselves! Why? If God is feared, people will be respected. So will Jesus Christ be respected! As it has been for decades in the church, Jesus is highly disrespected. He’s been kicked to the curb and replaced by a “Jesus” who bows to every whim and demand of “Christians” who, in increasingly large numbers, have great difficulty in even correctly naming The 10 Commandments!
Individually, we may not have broken all 10 Commandments, but all have broken some. The breaking of one condemns us! That’s how serious this is before God and that’s why each of us desperately needs the Savior, Jesus Christ. For our sake He (God) made Him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God 2 Corinthians 5:21. In other words, Jesus took our shame to the cross and shed His blood for it. That’s why the lady above can say, “God never calls you by your shame, folks. He’s calling you by your name.” Do you possess a “Go from Me” mentality? Dump it! It dishonors God immensely; Jesus is calling you by your name too. Come to Me, He says. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Romans 8:1. I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more Hebrews 10:17.