In 2 Timothy 1:12 Paul tells Timothy that it is because of the message of the Gospel that he is suffering but then he makes an interesting statement. He writes, “But I am not ashamed of it for I know the one in whom I trust.”
Society can often look down on those who have been placed in prison. The jail sentence may not be the hardest thing to bear but rather the shame and embarressment that comes with it. One of the most difficult things to endure for the one who has been incarcerated is the moment that they have to face their parents or spouse or children for the first time behind bars. They dread the moment that the people they love now having to see them wearing criminal’s clothes serving a criminal’s sentence. And maybe even more is they dread that potential look of disappointment.
As a Roman citizen, Paul had become an embarrassment for proclaiming the Christian faith. As a Jewish citizen, he had become an embarrassment for believing a crucified man is the Messiah. And he was now at the lowest place you can fall in society–a prisoner behind bars.
And yet Paul says in verse 12 that the very thing that put him there–the proclamation of the Gospel–is not something to be ashamed about. And the reason is because he is proclaiming the very truth of the one true God. He is declaring that life, hope, joy, peace, salvation can be found in Christ and Christ alone.
And so Paul says, “I know the one in whom I trust”
We may never find ourselves in prison for the sake of the Gospel, but I imagine many of us have found ourselves in an situation where we have become embarressed about something related to following Jesus. And embarressment can be devastating. Because in those moments, we can feel like we have lost dignity and respect and credibility. In those moments we can look weak and gullible. And no one likes those moments. As humans, we want to be liked and wanted. We want to be respected and appreciated. We don’t want to be viewed as people who have been decieved or given ourselves to fairytales. And yet our relationship with Jesus can too often make us feel rejected and unwanted. It can make us feel weird and strange.
And so it can become easy to avoid feeling this way. We can choose to be bold within the church and quiet outside the church. We may come to conclusion, “Why risk being foolish? Why risk hindering relationships because we seem weird?”
But the weirdness only comes because we have a culture that has believed a lie that there is no God. The rejection comes because we have a culture that says hope is within ourselves and not within a risen Savior. The perception that the Gospel is strange is the very reason the world needs the Gospel.
In speaking of those who turned their hearts away from God, Paul wrote in Romans 1:27, “Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”
The Gospel is foolish because the world has exchanged the truth of God for a lie.
The embarressment that we feel should not cause us to run but rather remind us that this world has been decieved and we have the privilege in those moments to declare truth.
Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 1:12 is a challenge for us. We must daily be reminded that in Christ we stand in true life. In Christ, we have true salvation. And so when we are suffering for His sake when we are rejected for His sake, there is no need to be ashamed because we know who we proclaim. And we know in whom we trust.
