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One of the less talked-about themes of the Christian life is that the believer is often called to be shamed by the world for the honor of God. Paul famously said at the end of Galatians, “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). In other words, what the world honored, he had crucified, and what the world shamed, Paul had embraced—namely, the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah endured a similar experience in Jerusalem before it was taken by the Babylonians in 586 BC. In the midst of a Jerusalem that had turned its back against the Lord, Jeremiah proclaimed, “The word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long” (Jer. 20:8). Since the people despised God, they also despised His Word, and thus they despised Jeremiah, the preacher of the Word. He had become a reproach to Israel. He was shamed—literally beaten by the priest and thrown into the stocks (v. 2). In a sense, Jeremiah had crucified the world to himself, and the world shamed Jeremiah in return.
Shamed Yet Honored
The same story is repeated again and again throughout Scripture. The believer lives for the honor of God but to the derision of the world. The cross-shaped life is the Christian life. To be shamed by the world is to demonstrate the Lord’s honor. Living this way, we show that He is most valuable. We are all called to take up our cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). It is the story of every saint. It is Peter, Paul, James, John, and you and me. It is the Christian life. Paul even calls it “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24). Obviously, nothing is lacking in Christ’s afflictions in the sense of their worth. What is lacking is a fresh view of the cross-shaped life to a watching world; it is this that believers demonstrate through their afflictions.
It is no wonder, then, that the writer to the Hebrews, in his final exhortations, commands his hearers to follow in the footsteps of Christ:
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (Heb. 13:12–14)
Who gives the reproach to the Christian? The world does. The same world that crucified Christ. Why does the Christian endure this shame? The writer of Hebrews answers, “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” Of course, by “the city that is to come,” he is referring to the new heavens and new earth described in Revelation 21–22. It is the cross-shaped life that leads to eternity. It is reproach from the world that demonstrates God’s honor. It is a cross-shaped life lived as a “sacrifice of praise to God” (Heb. 13:15).
A Clear Conscience
In this light, we can understand one of the final statements of the writer to the Hebrews: “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (Heb. 13:18). This one verse contains remarkable insights into the Christian life.
First, the writer states that he has a “clear conscience.” What a wonderful treasure to possess. The conscience is the internal mechanism of the soul that is calibrated to the law of God. Often, in the unbeliever, the conscience is distorted or even broken as he commits intentional sins over time. But for the believer, the conscience has been and is continually restored and purified (Ps. 51:10). Earlier, the writer of Hebrews had said that the “blood of Christ” is used to “purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14). The Holy Spirit then uses a recalibrated conscience to convict the Christian of sin and point him to the gospel. When the believer with a recalibrated conscience is not in a state of conviction, it can be said of him that his conscience is clear. The clear conscience gives the believer great boldness and confidence. Remember, we are experiencing opposition from the world, so we need bold and confident hearts to face the opposition. In a word, we need clear consciences.
Acting Honorably in All Things
Second, the conscience is guided by an overwhelming desire: “to act honorably in all things” (Heb. 13:18). The Greek word translated as “honorably” (kalōs) could also be translated “fittingly” or “appropriately.” “Fittingly” according to whose standard? we might ask. The obvious answer: Jesus Christ’s standard. We act fittingly according to all that Christ commanded us to obey (Matt. 28:20). We live for Him. Not for the world. This definition of acting honorably must be emphasized in our minds repetitively like the ticking of a metronome, because the world is holding forth a different definition of living honorably. Phrases such as “choose love” imply that you are unloving if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle or beliefs. Tolerance has been falsely equated with love. What a massive deception that Satan has accomplished. Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus is the only Way. The only Truth. The only Life. It is unloving to pretend that He is not. It is dishonorable to fail to give Jesus the honor that is due to Him (Phil. 2:9–11). To live honorably means lifting up Jesus in all that we do even though we will be shamed by the world. So be it. The world has been crucified to me and I to the world.