ROMANS 1: 14-17
14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish 15 —hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” †
Three Cities
Three cities: Rome, Jerusalem, and Athens. These three main cities of antiquity, each with their own character and distinctive influence on western civilization, represent three ancient worldviews—the ground from which the Church was born and grew.
At the time of our text’s publication, Rome was the unquestioned world power. Romans were all about organization—military precision and a chain of command. Rome excelled at governance, government, order, and rule. The birth of the western institution owes much to Rome.
Athens—city of philosophy, wisdom, sophistication, and advanced spirituality—was in decline at the time of the text. Rome triumphed, and Greece belonged to Rome. But from the Greeks the world learned to think, their arts were unexcelled, and paganism found its ultimate, highest expressions.
Jerusalem, of course, represents nothing less than the self-revelation of the one, true God. From Abraham to Jesus, Jerusalem bore the Word of God, first to the Jews and then to all humankind.
Aspects of these three cities remain influential today. As we walk with Paul through his epistle to the Romans, I’m going to regularly hold these three cities up and pose the question: Which city are we reflecting?
Shaming Christians
Roman Shame
The Christians in Rome were put down by the mighty Roman society. Christians were considered scum. Likely, many adherents were lower class and already disregarded so Christianity would have been considered a “slave religion,” something for lowlifes rather than elites.
Romans would hav scoffed at Christianity because its leader was a complete loser. A nobody. A Jew from Galilee without status, without rank, and whose chief appeal was to the yabbos and hillbillies of northern Israel’s fishing villages. What’s more, he was dead. To make it worse, he was crucified. By whom? By the power of Rome. Certainly in all the Roman world, there had never been a more ridiculous religion
We hear from one of Rome’s historians, Gaius Suetonius:
“Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous religious belief.”
And from Cornelius Tacitus:
Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”
Now Paul, who was a Roman citizen with real rights in the Roman world, would have seemed all the more ridiculous, for he had worldly empowerment through his citizenship—true privilege—and yet he casts it all aside to proclaim that this vanquished victim of Roman power and authority was Lord—a title reserved for Caesar alone!
Romans would have levied the full weight of shame on anyone—slave or citizen—for becoming a follower of a dead man. On top of that, a dead, Jewish, insignificant man.
Romans ruled the world. While this silly, little, slave religion was no threat to Roman power, they wouldn’t want to encourage anything that might turn into a rabble or slave revolt. So they put it down. They would shame it out of existence.
Greek Shame
Greeks likewise would have shamed the Christians. Hellenism, the name for Greeks, had brought culture and education to the ancient world from Spain to Persia. Greek was the language of education and philosophy, and its spread from Alexander the Great (about 300 BC) was uniting the ancient world. A common language and common worldview spoke into the vast diversity of ancient cultures.
Greeks may have liked the fact that Jesus was a nobody from nowhere. Some of Athens’ most respected philosophers were ascetics—living in poverty and renouncing the ways of the flesh and world. But the offense comes as Christianity holds at its absolute center this weird idea called resurrection. The idea that the flesh of this Jesus would be resurrected to new life was intolerable for Greeks. They believed that all flesh was bad and that spirituality meant liberation from the flesh. Death was liberation of the soul into the spiritual realm—enough to be celebrated as it is—so why this preposterous notion of flesh being transformed into new life? You might as well talk about fertilizer being turned back into food. So the Greeks, too, would have looked down upon these Christians and sought to shame them for their ridiculous religion.
From one of their own, Lucien of Samosota:
“The Christians. . . these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt for death and self devotion . . . their lawgiver [taught] they are all brothers and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take on faith.”
Jerusalem Shame
And Jerusalem, though the center of Christianity, remained divided. The religious power of Jerusalem was Judaism—Judaism of the Second Temple—and faithfulness to God meant righteous observance of The Law—the Torah—and the right sacrifices. The Jewish leadership would have shamed the Christians for following a Messiah wanna be who had been crucified. For them, crucifixion not only shamed the individual, but his family and his nation. For one Jew to be crucified—any Jew, even a very guilty one—stood as an insult and an offense to all Jews.
The Jewish leaders were just trying to survive and this new, Messianic Judaism threatened Jewish unity and stability. They were anxious to survive—to keep the carefully negotiated balance of their limited power up and against Rome—and these followers of the crucified one (most of them commoners, uneducated), threatened the traditions that had been painstakingly passed down generation after generation. Instability was heavy in the mix, so these followers of the crucified one were an embarrassment, at best to be simply tolerated, but for the most part to be kept silent.
Temple Judaism would have shamed the Christians for threatening their unity and carefully balanced way of life.
The context of shame was the norm for Christians in the ancient world. The new faith was accepted by none of the ancient societies. To be a Christian necessarily meant needing an antidote for social pain.
And so Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, begins by addressing the reality of shame, for shame would have been a core issue for every would-be follower of Jesus in Rome, as well as Athens or Jerusalem.
Shame Unlimited
Shame is a universal, primal emotion that debases and degrades whatever it touches. Shame is social pain—pain including family, friends, neighborhood, and even nation.
Carl Thompson, in his excellent book, The Soul of Shame defines shame as the emotional weapon that evil uses to:
1. corrupt our relationship with God and each other, and
2. disintegrate any and all gifts of vocational vision and creativity.
So shame not only undermines our calling, but undercuts our creativity. More than just feeling guilty about something, shame that felt sense that says, I do not have what it takes to tolerate this moment or circumstance.
Let’s be clear: shame isn’t all bad. Have you ever known someone who is utterly incapable of experiencing shame? Someone who is literally shameless? They are not quite right. Words like sociopath and psychopath rightly come to mind. This is because we have confused shame with normal conscience.
Shame is a powerful organizer of the personality. We all do things that we ought not to do and we are right to feel some shame for them. This is the formation of conscience, without which we would be completely amoral. But shame is something other than conscience; shame is a voice—a devilish voice—that speaks debasement to the very core of our being. Shame holds us captive to the fear of having our inadequacies exposed. This is true shame, and there is no good in it
The very name Satan means “the Accuser.” What is shame but that constantly nagging, inward voice of accusation?
Shame is a joy-killer, bringing joy only to the devils who can inflict it.
I tell you in Jesus’ name that there is no need for any Christian to live with shame. That cross represents the work of Christ who bore all shame on our behalf. He carried the shame, buried it, sent it down to Hell where it belongs, and rose out of it in order that you and I would live our lives with joy. Joy—not shame—is the mark of authentic Christianity.
Unashamed
On the simplest level, there are things that are okay to be ashamed of—your favorite political candidates and preferred sports teams, for instance—but there are things not to be ashamed of as well.
Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel” The Greek word for gospel is literally evangelism. The ancient evangelist was a kind of traveling town crier who visited Roman villages to deliver “good news,” usually of a military victory. “Caesar has defeated the Seleucids in Egypt!” etc.
That this term was picked up and Christianized is not inappropriate, for the message or our evangelism is similar: “Jesus is Lord and has triumphed once and for all over sin, Satan, and all the SHAME of the world!”
The Gospel is not shameful; it is our power, our strength, and light for all humanity, even though the world would try to shame us for our faith.
The gospel never shames us, though the world may try.
As in old Rome, some scoff at the role of the institutional church.
As in Athens, some scoff at lack of proofs and the idea of resurrection.
As in Jerusalem, some scoff at Christianity altogether, calling it divisive, racist, homophobic, backwards, repressive, condemning, oppressive, etc.
What does it mean to be unashamed? It means we trust in the good news and the one who provides it. Our faith is not shy, but bold. Our sharing of it needs to avoid all things tacky in favor of being tactful— proper and appropriate in dealing with others, including the ability to speak or act without offending.
As we come to the table today, let us be most mindful that all the shame of sin has been borne for us by Christ. It has been taken onto that cross and killed upon it. We should allow it do die its full death, and receive in its place the great and abundant joy God desires for us. God paid for that joy; why would we settle for anything less?
At this table, we are fed for that abundant life of joy that is the gospel. †