Despising Shame

In this chapter Welch follows Paul, who followed Jesus.  Jesus despised shame (Heb 12:2), focusing on shame from sins of others and our own weaknesses as it is experienced before the world, shame heaped on Him by other people.  Jesus absorbed the shame and despised being controlled by it.  He looked down on it, He treated it like an outcast, would not let Himself be controlled by it, never let it distract Him from His mission, would not let Himself be controlled by it.  Paul understood that despising shame was one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Paul recognized that our problem is before God --> once we're secure in our relationship with God, shame from humans loses its sting.

Shame before God

The is guilt over our own sin and in our own sin, and Welch reminds us, we should be ashamed.  We have dishonoured out King!  But always REMEMBER our shame is outweighed by our need for mercy and by the Lord's character to be generous and free with His mercy (p. 279).  Grace is uncomfortable for us though, and often we'll still say, "No I can't accept God's mercy, I'm unworthy."  Although that might sound noble, and we might even believe we can accept His mercy for little sins but not for the big sins, like lesbianism or... we need to believe and rest in God's grace.  Welch now directs us to the tax collector in Luke 18.  He cried over his grief for his sin, but he also continued to ask for God's mercy.  RUN to God just as David did (Psalm 139) and then truly BELIEVE you are cleansed!

Shame before other people

Here is the area in which we also can despise shame just as Jesus did.  With the Spirit of Jesus in us, we CAN despise shame, although we can expect it to be more challenging if we feel shame from people in our church.  Be reminded and take the example from Paul (2 Cor 10, 12, Rom 11).

Shame from our sin before the church

The sting of judgment from the church can be so painful and we know that the world invades the church.  Welch warns us that a perfectly safe place won't exist until the Kingdom of Christ is fully in place (p. 282), but in the meantime we can't harden ourselves.  It is still through the Church that God accomplishes His purposes.  Welch urges us to look at the mess in our own hearts before we look at the mess in our church (Mt 7:3-5) and that should keep us busy enough.  The paradox of life in the church is that it is the place where we hear about grace and forgiveness and it is the place where our sins feel most exposed!! (p. 283)  Part of the reason is that the church cares about sin and the world doesn't.  It might be hard to relate to Jesus or Paul at those times since we don't see their sins as much, but then look at David -- true sinner yet clearly beloved by God!!!  Make Psalm 51 your own!!

Shame from the sins of others and from our own weaknesses before the church and the world

Welch now turns us to look at before whom do we still experience shame? What has contributed to it?  Failure?  Sometimes we know the critical event that causes us to have a raw spot, that points to our feelings of failure, but other times it might be an accumulation of putdowns, neglect, selfish actions of others.  Welch tells us that the  only thing that will help us at these times is to REST in our association with Jesus rather than our associations with mere mortals!!!  Although we may believe we need tangible feelings of being valued by others, the Kingdom of God sets different goals --> to be hurt rather than crushed; to know the God who will be our Shepherd when others have failed; to find delight and honour in our association with Him and to consider how to love wisely (p. 287).

Jesus never minimizes our shame but He reminds us that the shame of worldly rejection is temporary and HIS CLEANSING AND COVERING IS FOREVER. (Heb 12:1-2; Php 3:8).

Pursuing Shame?

Paul raises the question -- People familiar with shame do not want to put themselves in harm's way ever again.  Does despising shame mean we put ourselves in vulnerable positions? (p. 289)  When insults come we might be ready to protect ourselves, to withdraw, to isolate, but Welch warns us not to got there.  He encourages us to move toward people -- wisdom, not fear, is the rule.  Knowing that Jesus turns His face toward us, helps us turn our face toward other people and show love and compassion just as He does.  Welch reminds us that Hurt is not the enemy, hurt is not the same as shame.  Hurt puts us in solidarity with Jesus!!  Hebrews 13:11-13 tells us to die to the old standards of shame, don't let them take over but COME ALIVE TO THE GREAT REVERSAL ACCOMPLISHED AT THE CROSS.

Finally Welch urges us to write a new resume like the apostle Paul's and he gives an example of his own rough draft on page 290 under the headings: Shame from what I have done.  Shame from what has been done to me.  Shame from not measuring up to worldly standards.  Accomplishments.  Objective.  If you haven't already done so, I urge you to read this book in its entirety!