Writing is a joy, knowing I’ve touched a readers heart is a greater joy.
Christian shaming came into the limelight when Joy Behar, the co-host on ABC’s The View, mocked Vice President Mike Pence’s faith in Jesus. I just want to ask a straight out, blunt question…Are we supposed to be embarrassed to be Christians? Because I’m not.
I’m thankful. That’s what I am. And I’m optimistic about the future because of the continuing positive impact that Christians are having in my nation and around the world.
Let’s assume that Vice President Pence said that God speaks to him. Should he be ashamed of this? No! Absolutely not.
His own belief that the Lord hears his prayers and that the Lord sometimes replies is normal. Let’s look at it this way: we don’t think it’s bizarre for children to hear their father speak to them. It’s expected. We’re the children of God. What good Father doesn’t speak to his kids?
In reference to Vice President Pence’s faith, Ms. Behar said, “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus, it’s another thing when Jesus talks to you.” She plowed ahead: “that’s called mental illness, if I’m not correct. Hearing voices.”
Vice President Pence isn’t crazy. He’s normal. And believing that God speaks to someone who is God’s child isn’t anything to be ashamed about.
One of the amazing things about Christianity that sets it apart from religions is this confidence that we are guided by God’s Spirit, that we hear Him in our hearts, and that He reveals His wisdom personally to us.
Christians throughout history believed that God spoke to them. And, throughout history, there have been people like Ms. Behar who accused Christians of being mentally ill because their claims sounded far too wild to be reality.
Anyone who reads the Bible will see that the claims of hearing God’s voice, made by modern day Christians, aren’t strange at all. The modern day believer’s testimony of their experiences with Jesus are actually quite bland and sedate in contrast with what some of our forefathers of the faith experienced and wrote about. By the way, those forefathers (Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jesus, Peter, John and Paul to name a few) weren’t ashamed, either.
I will not be ashamed. I’m thankful.