Unashamed

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day. (2 Timothy 1:6-12)

In an increasingly hostile culture we are tempted to be ashamed of the gospel—but God has not given us a spirit of fear.

A Fear of Coming Persecution

For a fair amount of time there has been a general concern among some in the church here in the United States that a form of persecution is on the horizon for followers of Christ. There are questions about whether that would be physical persecution or social persecution, and you could make the case that some form of social persecution is already taking place.

In thinking about this concern, a few things are important to point out. First, this fear is not unfounded. If you study church history over the last two thousand years, you'll see very clearly that from the earliest days right through to today there have been times of persecution against followers of Jesus. It is even happening at this very moment. Search Voice of the Martyrs online and read about people in other parts of the world experiencing oppression and persecution while we sit here in Southern California.

Why the Fear May Be Unjustifiable

A second thing to consider is that, at least in our context, this fear seems somewhat unjustifiable. We are blessed by God to live in perhaps the most free society in the world at this time or any other time in history—a nation whose Constitution enshrines in its earliest words the religious liberty we so greatly enjoy. Even when people have come against someone's religious liberty, the judiciary has often upheld it. The recent case of the cake maker in Colorado was brought up to me as an example of persecution, yet the Supreme Court upheld his religious liberties. We should be grateful to live in such a nation.

The Biblical Flaws in This Anxiety

Thirdly, this fear has some flaws biblically. The follower of Jesus is never promised a life without difficulty or suffering—quite the contrary. In John 16:33 Jesus prepares His disciples and says, "In the world you will have tribulation." Paul says it in the very book we're studying: "All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3). All who desire to live faithful to Christ will experience some form of persecution.

A second flaw is that Jesus commanded us not to worry about such things. If we came up with all the "what-ifs" we might face, we could fill volumes, and yet it is highly unlikely we'd suffer any of them. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, "Do not worry about your life" (Matthew 6:25). The King James puts it, "Take no thought for your life." A few verses later: "Do not worry about tomorrow; sufficient for the day is its own trouble." You have enough to deal with today without worrying about tomorrow.

Christ's Empowering and Future Deliverance

This fear is also flawed because Jesus promised that if such suffering ever comes, He would empower us to go through it. In Mark 13:11 He says, "When they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand what you will speak, but whatever is given you in that hour, speak; for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit." Notice He says when, not if.

I've talked with many Christians who are oppressed by the question, "Would I be able to stand in the face of persecution? Would I remain faithful if they offered to spare me for denying Christ?" Maybe you've wondered the same. But Jesus says don't even worry about that situation, because if you are ever in it, God by His Spirit will give you the words to speak. That is freeing—you can't plan for a possible "what if," but if it ever comes, the promise of Christ stands.

Finally, this fear is flawed because Jesus promised a future deliverance into a world with no suffering. In Revelation 21, John sees "a new heaven and a new earth," and writes, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain." Does that not sound great? The night before His crucifixion Jesus told His troubled disciples, "Let not your heart be troubled... In My Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you... that where I am, there you may be also." This is our promise of deliverance.

Good Theology Still Leaves Room for Fear

All of this is theologically sound. You can build a solid case that these fears are unjustifiable and flawed. And yet you might say, "I see the theology, Pastor Miles, but I'm still a little concerned in the back of my mind." To that I have to say, you're right. We can have the theology perfectly mapped out, approach these issues with solid rationality, and still have fear.

Let me illustrate. My wife is terribly afraid of flying. Every time we discuss it, I go through good theology with her—God is in control, God is on the throne, your life is in His hands. Then I go through reasonable statistics—you're far more likely to die in a car crash than a plane. I can talk until I'm blue in the face, and you know what? She's still afraid. We can talk to ourselves with good theology and reason with ourselves rationally and still be challenged by fear.

Timothy's Real and Imminent Suffering

Now, how does this apply to our text? If we can have fears that are theologically discounted and rationally unreasonable while not even facing imminent threat, consider Timothy, who actually was facing imminent suffering and the potential of persecution. His mentor, the Apostle Paul, at the very moment he writes this letter, is in prison in Rome facing soon execution—and he tells Timothy to take over his role.

Consider their relationship. Timothy first met Paul at about fifteen years old when Paul came preaching the gospel to Lystra in the region of Galatia. From everything we can tell, Timothy, his mother, and his grandmother became followers of Jesus through Paul's preaching (Acts 13). When Paul came back to Lystra a short time later, he had just been beaten and stoned to the point of death—still bearing the marks on his body, telling the story of how he was nearly killed for his faith.

A couple of years later Paul returned and asked seventeen-year-old Timothy to come on a mission trip. One of the first cities they reached was Philippi, where Timothy watched with his own eyes as Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten with rods, and thrown into prison (Acts 16). This was Timothy's introduction to Paul's ministry. For the next decade and a half he journeyed with Paul, watching him beaten and arrested—and now Paul is awaiting execution and says, "Timothy, I've selected you to carry the torch."

It Is Not Unfaithful to Be Fearful

Reading through 1 and 2 Timothy, it becomes clear that Timothy was fearful and anxious about what he was being asked to do. And in this there is an encouraging point: it is not a sign of unfaithfulness to be fearful. The way God created us, the very makeup of the human brain, means sensory information passes first through the part of the brain that deals with fear, triggering adrenaline and a stress response. We experience fear even as followers of Jesus with genuine faith.

In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul commends Timothy's genuine faith, yet Timothy still had fear. The walk God has called us to is a walk "by faith, not by sight," and I'm not sure you can walk by faith and not have at least a little fear. It doesn't mean you're paralyzed by it. Think of a trust exercise where you're blindfolded and guided by a teammate—there's timidity in trusting someone else to lead you. Timothy was certainly concerned about these things, but being fearful is not unfaithfulness.

Stir Up the Gift of God in You

So what does Paul do? He encourages Timothy: "Stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (v. 6). Because of the real temptation to be fearful—even with genuine faith—Paul reminds Timothy to stir up the gift God has given. This exhortation reveals five important truths about gifts.

First, you have a gift in you if you're a follower of Jesus. All Christians are gifted. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul says he doesn't want us ignorant of spiritual gifts: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit... the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one." These gifts are for the profit of all.

Second, this gift is from God. "Stir up the gift of God." 1 Corinthians 12:11 says, "One and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." Third, this particular gift came by apostolic prayer and the laying on of hands. 1 Timothy 4:14 tells of a gathering of elders who laid hands on Timothy and prayed that God would uniquely gift him for the work of carrying the gospel.

The Gift Must Be Stirred Up, Not Left Dormant

Fourth, the gift does not overcome the gifted individual; it must be stirred up. Sometimes you'll see people, even on Christian broadcasts, who appear to have a gift that overpowers them so they can't contain it. That's not biblical. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:32, "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." Since Timothy had control over this spiritual empowering, there was a danger he could hold back from using it. So Paul says, "Stir it up. Use it. Don't let it remain dormant."

Fifth, these gifts can remain dormant, but if they're not used they're not revoked. Out of fear or shame we may be tempted to hold back, yet "the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). God has given the gift for the profit of all—to build up the body and reach those who don't yet know Christ. Peter exhorts us to be good stewards: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).

In our own strength we are insufficient. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves... but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers." He's the one who enables us—and yet we must stir up the gift.

A Spirit of Power, Love, and a Sound Mind

So point two: we must stir up and use our God-given gifts in spite of fear. Another translation of "stir up" is "fan into flames." We do this in full assurance of faith, knowing 2 Timothy 1:7: "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Fear is not one of the gifts God gives; if I'm anxious, that's not from God.

This power is the very word Jesus used in Acts 1:8: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses." In our own strength we lack the resources to accomplish the task, but the Spirit empowers us.

The word for love here is often used of God's love in Scripture. The fruit of the Spirit is singularly love (Galatians 5), and it is "the love of Christ" that "compels us" (2 Corinthians 5:14). God's love at work in us pushes us to step into the very suffering Timothy was facing so we might fulfill our commission.

And a sound mind—one commentator notes the Greek word carries the idea of a calm, self-controlled mind in contrast to panic and confusion. Imagine driving 80 on the 15 freeway when a tire bounces out of a truck toward you. Adrenaline floods your body in an instant. Now try saying to yourself, "I will now be calm." You laugh, because it's absurd—it might take 45 minutes to come down from that response. And yet we have the testimony of believers who faced enormous suffering—Foxe's Book of Christian Martyrs recounts many—who had the peace of God that surpasses understanding. Were they fearful? Absolutely. Jesus Himself sweat great drops of blood the night before His crucifixion, yet He faced it because God had given Him power, love, and a sound mind.

Do Not Be Ashamed of the Testimony of Our Lord

Because God has done this, verse 8 begins, "Therefore"—really, "but because of this"—"do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel."

These verses beautifully stitch together what has caused great debate in the church over the last 500 years: God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. When you read Scripture faithfully and systematically, you find they are joined together in God. God has sovereignly given you power, love, and a sound mind—and He calls you to stir up the gift and not be ashamed. There's a responsibility component we must take hold of. As we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, God is working in us. It is not either/or—it is both, joined as one.

Why would someone be ashamed of "the testimony of our Lord"? The word testimony is martyrion, from which we get martyr—so Paul says, do not be ashamed of the martyrdom, the crucifixion, of our Lord. In 1 Corinthians 1:23 Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness"—to the very religious, offensive; to the non-religious, foolishness.

Offensive and Foolish—Yet the Power of God

We might be tempted to be ashamed of this message because at face value it's offensive. When you share it with a friend or coworker, you're saying, "You are so desperately sinful and lost that this man had to die for you." Sometimes we backpedal—"We all have problems and He came to fix our problems"—but no, we are sinners, desperately lost, in need of a Savior, and that message is offensive. It's offensive to the religious who think they've dealt with their own sin. And it's foolishness to others: "You actually believe that pitiful scene of a man on a cross outside Jerusalem will do anything for you?" That's the argument of modern atheists like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens.

How do we respond? In the same passage Paul says, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). And in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes."

Do Not Be Ashamed of Paul, His Prisoner

Paul also says, "Do not be ashamed of me His prisoner." Although Timothy had been with Paul his entire adult life, loved him, and looked up to him, there was every temptation now—when Paul faced execution—to disassociate for self-preservation. Consider a pertinent illustration from this week: the news around the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kavanaugh, and the allegations from decades ago. I don't care where you land on it, but notice how friends have had to step back and say, "I can't associate, because of the mere allegation." The temptation was absolutely there for Timothy to back away from Paul for self-preservation.

But Paul says share in the sufferings "according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." Don't avoid being ashamed merely because you're my friend, but because of what Christ has done for you.

Christ Suffered for Us—and Sometimes Calls Us to Suffer

Point four: Christ suffered for us, and sometimes He calls His followers to suffer for the sake of the gospel. And here's the important thing—if Christ calls anyone to suffer for the gospel, you can be certain it is for His purpose and grace. It is not arbitrary or capricious.

Paul continues that God's purpose and grace "has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (v. 10). This has been God's eternal purpose "before time began," revealed first in Genesis 3:15, where God tells the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." There God promises one from a woman who will crush the serpent's head—and Jesus is the fulfillment, bringing life and immortality to light through the gospel.

No Shame in Total Commitment to Christ

Paul says of this gospel, "to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day" (vv. 11-12).

Point five: there is no shame in living with total commitment to Christ and His kingdom. People in our culture will disagree, but commitment to Christ does not mean abdicating your responsibilities in this life. It means an added calculus informs how you live it. When you trust Jesus, He promises to guard you until you are with Him eternally. He guards what you have entrusted to Him, and that changes how you see everything. Christ and His kingdom become a priority of commitment over other commitments, and because of that priority, someone might suffer—as Paul did. "Even though I'm suffering, I'm not ashamed, because I know whom I have trusted and I am convinced He will guard my trust until I see Him."

The Power of God for a Hostile Age

Two thousand years ago Timothy was tempted to be timid and ashamed of a message that is foolishness to some and offensive to others. Paul says, "Stir up the gift of God that is in you," because that does not diminish the fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. This world needs to hear that good news.

Fast forward two thousand years to our day, and in the hearts of many of us there is anxiety about even sharing the gospel—or simply inviting a neighbor to church—because they might think we're foolish, be offended, or get angry. We're fearful of the social pressure. Yet Paul says it is a joy to suffer for the name of Christ, because God honors that suffering.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we need Your grace and Your empowering by Your Spirit to fulfill the purpose for which You've called all of us. In our fallen nature, so wrapped up with self-preservation and the fear of social stigma, we can feel the pressure to be ashamed of this seemingly offensive and foolish message You have given us. Yet Jesus, You bore our shame on the cross; You suffered in our place to rescue us from this broken, fallen world.

I pray that You would enable us by the empowering of Your Spirit to have boldness, especially as our culture becomes more antagonistic to the simple message of the gospel. The message we have is offensive and, in some respects, seemingly foolish—and yet it is Your power. So God, empower us to share it; give us the grace to be bold. As the early church gathered in the face of opposition in Acts 4 and 5 and prayed for boldness, and You empowered them by Your Spirit, so we pray that You would pour out and empower Your church again—with that spirit of power and love and of a sound mind in the face of any opposition—to share the glories of who You are and what You've done for us, even if it invites derision or mockery. Help us to stand unashamed for the gospel. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you; may He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may He lift up His countenance upon you and give you His peace—the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of His Holy Spirit.