Shame on You!

Shame

Shame and guilt are noble emotions essential in the maintenance of civilized society, and vital for the development of some of the most refined and elegant qualities of human potential.

Willard Gaylen

Zeph 3:4-7
Her prophets are reckless, treacherous men; Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. The LORD is righteous within her; He will do no injustice. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He does not fail. But the unjust knows no shame. "I have cut off nations; their corner towers are in ruins. I have made their streets desolate, with no one passing by; their cities are laid waste, without a man, without an inhabitant. "I said, "surely you will revere Me, Accept instruction.' So her dwelling will not be cut off According to all that I have appointed concerning her. But they were eager to corrupt all their deeds. NASU

Jonathan Swift once wrote, “I never wonder to see men wicked, but I often wonder to see them not ashamed.” Jonathan Swift died in 1745, and if he had lived to see today, I am sure the things that he would see would inspire him to write a book, not just a line of comment. In today’s world shame has been buried, and its funeral was a quiet one, to which few gathered to mourn its passing.

We should not be so quick to point at the young, the fads, or the generation of today to point our fingers. Its death, as I said, was a slow one. It began with overlooking the smallest details, and then moved on to larger ones. It begins usually as an example set by someone that starts a slow, but steady, incremental slide downward, on a slope that increases over time. At some point all footing is lost, and no one can grasp or glimpse a standard, they are swept away with a rushing society bent on overlooking anything that comes between them, and what they desire.

It begins with small conversations at the table that exemplify to a younger generation how to humorously degrade someone. It ends with a giggle and not a stern stare that would have been given by a wise and loving older mature grandmother, or a clearing of the throat by a grandfather. The slope has gotten steeper since those days, things are quicker now, and with much more ease, the correction ceases, quietness rules and hope disappears for our future.

John Lyly, a British Writer who lived from 1554-1606, a voice from the past, a voice from days when stares were more frequent and standards much higher, said this of shame, “Where the mind is past hope, the heart is past shame.” You see, because we have not taught shame well enough, hope has also been deterred. People are looking for hope, and if they feel no shame they will search in forbidden places. Have we taught them or given them boundaries like we were taught, or have we glossed over the details, not wanting to shame them, and confused their search for hope...God Bless.

Pastor William