Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed when they had committed abominations? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done or said in your life? What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in the last twenty-four hours? Sometimes we confuse embarrassment and shame and use those two words interchangeably. But there is a little bit of a difference. The primary difference is that embarrassment is something that may be morally neutral whereas shame has a moral judgment attached to it. I might fail some kind of etiquette or do something that is not cool that may embarrass me. Shame implies a moral judgment, something about which I blush because it is morally wrong.
In Jeremiah 6, God is speaking to His people, and He speaks over and again to Jerusalem, to people who had turned their backs on Him. In verse 8 God says, “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem.” He is saying, “Listen to me.” He goes on to say, “To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it.” Jeremiah is saying, “When I give God’s Word, they do not listen.” You find that throughout Jeremiah 6. You find that you can tell to whom you are listening by what it takes to shame you.
In verse 15 He says, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? nay they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.” They didn’t even have the ability to be ashamed of their sin. Now, there is a difference between sin and what is politically incorrect, although there may be times when something is politically incorrect and it dovetails with something that is morally wrong.
For instance, if I were to describe some kind of moral depravity, it would be hard to shame most people in America right now because of the way we think, talk, and live. We are not ashamed by anything. But, if I were to name that moral depravity by the wrong name, something that is politically incorrect, even good people would wince. I am not suggesting we beat people over the head and call them nasty names because they sin. The fact is, we all need to recognize our own sin as against God. The problem is that often we are ashamed of other people’s sins, but we are not ashamed of our own sin. You can tell whom you are listening to by what it takes to shame you.
To whom are you listening? Let me give you three possibilities. First, you may be listening to experts. Verse 13 says, “For from the least of them [God’s people] even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.” So, the prophet and priest were experts. They knew the law, God’s truth, and people trusted them because they were the experts. It continues, “They [prophets and priests] have healed also the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” So we may find cover for doing what is wrong because experts seem to say we are okay and we are not ashamed of what is offensive to God if the right people say it is ok.
Second, we may listen to culture. In verse 20 God essentially says, “What is the purpose of your worship of me? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.” Here were people who thought they were okay committing terrible sin because they were going to the temple, sacrificing to God. They thought somehow God was obliged to them. So many times we think, “As long as I am performing in a right way, going to church, giving, and doing good things, then it doesn’t matter what I do Friday night.”
Third, you may be listening to God. What is God’s estimation of what you are doing? In verse 27 God says to Jeremiah, “I have set thee for a tower and a fortress among my people, that thou mayest know and try their way.” God is the One Who knows my thoughts and knows my ways. As to thoughts, God talks about the fruit of their thoughts because their thoughts were evil and they were not ashamed at what they had done. God is the One Who is worthy to tell whether something is silver or dross, whether something is worthy or worthless, or whether something is sinful and shameful or whether it is in alignment with the God Who made us and the universe.
Have you ever been embarrassed? You probably have. Are you ever ashamed? If you are ashamed, that is a moral judgment. Who determines your moral judgments today? Is it the experts? Is it the changing culture? Or, is it the God Who loves you and made you?