I recently heard a Christian influencer with a large following repeat a worn out encouragement. She said conviction comes from God, but shame comes from Satan. The first time I heard this, I remember thinking it sounded great. But just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it is biblical. What is implied in this statement is, if you feel ashamed, even if it is legitimate shame over sin, it did not come from God because God doesn’t shame us.
While it is true that, once God has forgiven us, we shouldn’t keep coming back to our shame as we are known to do, it is one of the tools God uses to call sinners to repentance. Believing that any shame you feel is not from God is a lie that only serves Satan. If he can keep you believing that all shame you feel is from him, it will never drive you to repentance. The truth is Scripture gives us examples of God shaming people to draw their attention to their sin.
Examples of Shame
Jesus shamed the Pharisees when He called them white-washed tombs and brood of vipers. He was shaming them when he overturned the tables in the temple and told them they were turning His house into a den of thieves. In Ezekiel, we are told that Israel needed to be ashamed of their iniquities (43:10). In Hosea, God promised to change Israel’s glory into shame because of their sin (4:7). First Corinthians reminds us that God uses the foolish things to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong (1:27). And Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica that if anyone doesn’t obey the words of Scripture, they should have nothing to do with that person, “that he may be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14).
Of course, shame is not the only tool God uses. When He met the woman at the well, she had experienced enough shame, so He used compassion instead. The same is true of the woman caught in adultery. She already felt her shame, so Christ did not pile it on. But when we come across people who think they know better than God, like the Pharisees who had added rules to God’s law that oppressed God’s people, shame is the appropriate instrument.
Where there is no shame, the private becomes a spectacle, what was wrong becomes right, and what was evil becomes praiseworthy. When we look around our world today and see women wearing barely a stitch of clothing while they twerk on a public stage, or men dressed up in caricature costumes of women dancing lewdly for children, or the number of women who are choosing abortion so they can be free to live their immoral lifestyles without consequences, I would say we could use some shame!
And that is the point: we ought to be ashamed of sin. When we think we know better than God and refuse to submit to His authority, we ought to be ashamed. Paul seems to be describing our current society when he says to the Philippians, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (3:19 ESV).
This same Christian influencer who repeated this belief about shame claims that while she doesn’t meet the standards of the church, she still meets God’s standards. As a result, she speaks out against the church, God’s given method for community among believers, as an oppressive institution. This sounds very close to believing she knows better than God as she seeks to destroy His church. And this is the very situation where some shame is warranted.
What Is Shame for?
Perhaps where we err when it comes to shame is not in that we don’t use this tool God gives, but that we use it wrongly. The goal of shame is not to lord it over someone in an “I am right, and you are wrong” way. It is not to pile on when that person has already recognized she ought to be ashamed. The goal of shame is to call sinners to repentance. Shame should drive us toward Jesus and His forgiveness. It should not be used as a club to hit someone over the head when she is already convinced of her guilt.
While we should be ashamed of our sin and lay it at the feet of Jesus never to pick it up again, we should not be ashamed of standing for the truth in a world that wants to bully us into complying with lies. Mark 8:38 reminds us that if we are ashamed of God, He will be ashamed of us. As long as we keep our eyes on Him, we will not be put to shame (Psalm 119:6). We should not be ashamed of suffering for the cause of Christ (1 Peter 4:16), and we should not shrink back in shame from God but abide in Him (1 John 2:28).
So, friend, how do you know if your shame is from God or Satan? Evaluate the cause of the shame. Are you ashamed because of sin? Let that shame drive you to the feet of Jesus where you can lay that sin down. Are you ashamed because you are standing alone on truth in a sea of lies? Stand boldly because that shame is not of God but of this world, and you will be rewarded. Stop letting the world tell you how God works and what He does. Turn to Scripture for truth.
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