Are you ashamed?

I've always considered myself a bold person.  My friends look to me to lead the way in the midst of strangers, knowing I will not be shy or timid. 

But it feels like a different thing all together when it comes to being ashamed of the gospel.
Sure I will wear a Christian t-shirt to the store, but saying "God bless you"?  That's harder.

We were reading in Colossians 3 this morning, and talking about the return of Christ.  "When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (verse 4).  So I had a brilliant idea.

What if we, similar to what the early believers did, would say, "He is coming" as a greeting.  Like, "He is coming." "He is coming indeed."  So my mom jumped on that idea and says lets start it when we greet someone, instead of going through the typical, "Hey, how are you?" "Good. How are you?" "Good."  So that's what we are going to do.

But the thought of ACTUALLY doing it gives me a queasy feeling in my stomach. The fear of man is at work in me to make me ashamed of my Savior.  What if people think I'm weird?

Why does it matter what people think?  It shouldn't.

Romans 1:16 "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."

Mark 8:38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His father with the holy angels."

So am I ashamed? Does the power of God give me the boldness to proclaim His resurrection and imminent return?  Will the Son be ashamed of me when He comes?

"And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming." 1 John 2:28

My shame or boldness remains to be seen.  The test is when I go out into the world.

HE IS COMING!
Are you ashamed?