"Shaming" is a thing these days.
Many of us have seen the funny posts with picture after picture of a cat or dog with a sign declaring what "shameful" thing they have done, like the cat who sat and watched a mouse eat her food, or the dog who grabbed the last piece of chicken off the serving tray when nobody was watching. We laugh at these because, honestly, a lot of them are hilarious.
Then there are the less funny ones, like parents who publicly shame their children as a form of punishment, or worse, who publicly shame their children for their own amusement. Mom-shaming is also a thing. According to UrbanDictionary.com, mom shaming is "criticizing or degrading a mother for her parenting choices because they differ from the choices the shamer would make." (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mom-shaming). These are only a couple of examples. There are many more out there.
Generally, especially as Christians, we look on these things as bad. We should, because they are. "Shaming" like that is degrading and malicious. I could spend the rest of this post talking about the "hows and whys" of it, but that's not why I'm writing today. Today, I am writing because of the ways we SHOULD be shaming.
"WHAT???"
Yes, you read that right.
Ephesians 5:11-12 says, "Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret." (Emphasis mine.)
Shameful. Even the mention of those sinful acts is considered to be full of shame. According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, shame is defined as "a painful emotion caused by a consciousness of guilt, shortcoming, or impropriety." (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shame). As Christians, we are directed to be "imitators of God" (Eph. 5:1), and to stay away from things like sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscene and foolish talking, crude joking, etc. (Eph. 5:3-5). The culture we live in, though, thrives on these things, with no shame. Christian, I would venture to say that at least a portion of this is because we no longer view or address them as shameful.
Now, I'm not saying that we should be "shaming" the sinner. Not the way the world "shames" people. Again, it is malicious and degrading and hateful. We are called to love, not to hate. To quote a catchphrase from my childhood, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner."
Instead, we need to be addressing the sin itself as shameful. STOP LOOKING THE OTHER WAY!!! When we laugh at the crude jokes, take advantage of someone financially, watch cruelty and violence without taking action (whether it's on TV, on social media, in person, or whatever), et cetera, we are condoning those things, giving them our seal of approval, which is the exact opposite of acknowledging or expressing their shame. You know what else, Christian? When you do that, you are telling people that God approves of those actions, which is a bold-faced LIE. You think I'm being extreme in saying that? Let's check scripture...
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ's behalf: 'Be reconciled to God.'" - 2 Cor 5:20
Back to the dictionary. Ambassador, according to Merriam-Webster, means "an official envoy especially: a diplomatic agent of the highest rank accredited to a foreign government or sovereign as the resident representative of his or her own government or sovereign or appointed for a special and often temporary diplomatic assignment" (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambassador)
As Christ's ambassadors, everything we do represents Him. We even meet the "special and... temporary" part of the definition. We are only on this earth for a short time, and have a very specific and special mission to make disciples. Condoning shameful, sinful behavior hurts that mission.
Maybe you've thought briefly about this before. Maybe you haven't. Either way, now you're faced a decision to make... which path are you going to walk? Are you going to look the other way, condoning sinful and shameful behavior? Or are you going to take a stand for your mission?
No comments:
Post a Comment