Question:
Why are people, even Christians, embarrassed to speak specifically about God and Jesus?
Answer:
Often you hear folks who want to give God credit but speak about “the man upstairs”, “somebody up there”, “a higher power”, “someone must have been looking out for me”, “the Big Man up there”, “my guardian angel”. There are two common reasons for this: 1) they don’t really know who God is or 2) they know God, but they are embarrassed to say so.
It’s amazing to me that “somebody up there” can save a person’s life, give them the “miracle” they asked for (a child found, a loved one saved, a disaster survived, etc), and then the best they can do is acknowledge some generic “higher power” or “the Big Fella” because they are too embarrassed to say “Praise GOD”.
When I hear someone who I know is a Christian say something like that (ie “the Man Upstairs”) I immediately and lovingly call them on it. God is too holy, too worthy and too jealous to be referred to in such a flippant and casual manner by His children.
On the flip side, maybe worse, you have lots of celebrities and sports figures who routinely say “I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” or “give all the glory to God” and offer a “God bless you” right after winning an MTV video award doing provocative and overtly sexual dancing/singing while wearing clothes that are nothing short of shameful immodesty, slugging down a cold one in the latest beer commercial and pimping tens pounds of bling right before getting caught with a prostitute.
We have failures folks, but it’s not a stretch to doubt the debt of someone’s commitment to true Christianity when they just finished a music video that would make Larry Flynt blush.
To give credit where credit is due, you have guys like Tim Tebow, Mike Holmgren, Tony Dungy, and Orel Hershiser who frankly and plainly speak about their faith in the common course of their conversation, and they mean it. Interestingly, I did a couple of searches for famous Christian actors and celebrities, and not many current names came up. Does that say anything about the film industry? You decide.
I’m not sure which is worse: giving credit to a “higher power” when God just saved your life, or credit Jesus for your success on a worldwide broadcast while standing almost naked in your athletic or performance clothing after singing raunchy lyrics. You can decide that one too.
Obviously, you don’t have to choose which one is “worse”. It’s all just signs that the world is plummeting away from God, “as in the days of Noah”, and despite the false doctrine of “Dominionism” (ie, the Church will overtake the world and usher Christ’s return), it is obvious that the world, and the modern Church are abandoning God and His Word.
“As in the days of Noah”… only one family was left who loved God, and the rest of the world did evil continually. It was then that God destroyed the world and moved into the next phase of His master plan. Does one have to be a FANATIC to see that we are rapidly approaching “the days of Noah”, and that God must be getting ready to move to the next phase of His eternal plan? Let’s hope so, but let’s also hope that we can warn people before it’s too late.
Consider the slide away from God and Scripture that is occurring on a mass scale in ALL segments of Christianity:
- Abandonment of Scripture as the ultimate and singularly reliable source of Truth
- Humanistic Psychology and so called “Christian psychology”
- Ecumenism
- Dominionism
- Watered down, ear-tickling personal success oriented Bible teaching
- Prosperity Gospel
- Positive Thinking
- Social Gospel
- Tradition over Bible
- Experientialism over Bible
- Pragmatism over Bible
- Lack of Scriptural integrity
- Dependence on extraBiblical information and sources
So my answer to your question is people aren’t open about God because they either don’t really know God, or they know Him but have such poor understanding, they are embarrassed to speak directly and plainly about Him.
Of course, society also makes it hard to talk about Jesus. There is a lot of peer pressure and gossiping waiting for those who speak openly about God. However, substantive teaching and preaching about the TRUTH of God and the world counteracts this. Serious faith counteracts this. Serious truth counteracts this.
So I don’t lay the blame at the world’s feet for making it hard… I lay the blame at our feet for not being stronger, bolder and more serious as Christ followers.
Lord come quickly!