If you have ever been on a job interview, confidence is one thing you can’t have too much of, unless your confidence comes off as arrogance or aloofness. Unless you are running for political office and then it seems that you can’t get enough. But what exactly is confidence?
Confidence is the feeling that you can do something. Confidence usually builds over time as you do tasks successfully. So confidence has some substance. It represents your past successes applied to a potential future action. And we all need some confidence when facing future challenges.
In our text John tells us that we can have confidence when Jesus returns if we stay connected to Him rather than following a different course. The original audience of this letter was in danger of turning away from the freedom we have in Christ. They were hearing a teaching that downgraded Jesus to less than fully God and fully man. The people teaching this had been part of their fellowship, but had departed when they began their errant teaching.
But the readers are challenged to continue in Jesus. It is not automatic. There is a choice to remain in Christ. And if we stay true to the faith then confidence is one of the byproducts. This isn’t confidence to high wire walk across Niagara Falls. This is confidence that our eternal destiny is secure. It is focused confidence. It is important confidence because it settles the death question once and for all. And when we have confidence concerning death, is there anything else that can bring us fear?
But there is something else that continuing in Jesus brings. John says that we may have confidence and be unashamed. Shame is one of the most powerful emotions. Shame and fear drive most interactions that we humans have. When couples fight, it is fear and shame that drive the train. The outward manifestations of anger only cover up the real feelings. Fear and shame are so difficult to deal with that we hide them under our anger, nagging, withdrawing or shutting down.
John tells us that if we stay true to the faith they received, we will be able to stand before Jesus without shame. The sin that causes us to hang our heads won’t drag us down at that moment. We will recognize Him and the grace He brings and stand tall. We get this unashamed posture not because of anything we have done. It is given to us because Jesus already bore the shame for our sin in His death. He was naked when it was our nakedness that was showing.
And one more thing! Jesus is coming back. This is not some late addition to the faith. Jesus told us about it. The prophets of the Old Testament told us about it. And John does as well. He is going to return and establish His authority in a real and visible way. There will be no doubt about who is in charge. Jesus will be.
And when Jesus comes in all His glory and demonstrates His power, we can be confident and without shame because we stand in Him.
The Arnold Journey 