For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  Rom 1:16

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. 2 Tim 1:8 

What does it mean to be ashamed of the Gospel? What does it mean to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord?

I’ve never thought myself ashamed of the gospel.
I believe it to be true. I’ve shared it, I’ve lived it, I’ve preached it many times.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ came to save men.

But herein lies the crux of the matter:
If I believe the gospel — it causes me to live in a different way than other men.

Paul suffered prison because of where the gospel led him to go.
He didn’t do a thing wrong, but there he was in prison, an innocent man.
Yet, he didn’t consider it something to be ashamed of.

If we let the gospel take us wherever our Lord the king wants to go, there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Whether it’s chains, loss of reputation, loss of respect — we have the opportunity to share in the sufferings of the King, to identify with Him in death.

We forget — not only did Jesus die for the sin of the world, but he lived for the sin of the world.

He lived the shame, the filth,  the wretchedness of sin for his last hours before the cruxifiction.

And if Jesus bore the shame of my sin — I will not be ashamed when His gospel takes me into dark and difficult places.