Shame
Shame
Scripture uses many different images to describe sin and sinners—lost sheep, lost coins, blind wanderers, rebels, corpses, hopeless prisoners, and slaves, to name just a few. But if Jesus became on the cross what we sinners really are, then we are worms!
Isaac Watts wrote in a hymn, “Would He devote that sacred head / For such a worm as I?” But some contemporary hymn editors have replaced the “worm” line with “for sinners such as I.” We don’t mind being called sinners, but we don’t like being called worms. But that’s what we are! Editors can remove the word worm from the hymnal but not from the Bible.
We think we are so big and powerful, when in God’s sight we are only small and feeble. “Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust” (Isa. 40:15). Pharaoh didn’t frighten the Lord when Moses told the Egyptian leader what to do, and neither did Sennacherib or Herod or Caesar. God easily defeated all of them. “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor. 1:27).
God knows us thoroughly. In the Scriptures He tells us what we are, and we had better agree with Him. But what we are in ourselves isn’t important; it’s what we are in Christ that really counts. God still uses the weak things to triumph over the strong and to silence those who boast. No matter how far along we are in our faith journey, it does us good to recall what we used to be and what the Lord has done for us. In Isaiah 41, the Lord is encouraging His people Israel and calls them “my servant … whom I have chosen” (v. 8). He promises, “I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (v. 10). But right in the middle of the chapter, He calls them “you worm Jacob, little Israel” and promises to make the little worm into a threshing sledge with many sharp teeth (vv. 14–15)! Have you ever seen a worm with teeth that was able to grind mountains into sand?
We should not stare into the mirror and groan, “I’m a worm—I’m nothing.” We know what we are and we also know what we are in Christ by faith! Whenever we are ashamed of what we are in ourselves, we should be assured by what we are and what we have in our loving Savior. There is a place in the Christian life for shame and humility: “‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Pet. 5:5–6).
Astonishment, adoration, and shame lead the way to at least one more response.