Confessing Evangelical

The previous post dealt with inviting people in, to hear God's Word in the Divine Service. But (as pointed out by a contributor to the LQ discussion linked in my previous post) the Divine Service also sends us out:

Thank the Lord and sing his praise;
   tell everyone what he has done.
Let all who seek the Lord rejoice
   and proudly bear his name.
He recalls his promises
   and leads his people forth in joy
   with shouts of thanksgiving.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

The words "proudly bear his name" particularly struck me. It's not about being guilt-tripped into doing lots of "personal evangelism". For me, it would be a start to "proudly bear his name" - to be straightforwardly unashamed to be known as a Christian. The LQ contributor replaced "proudly" with "gladly", but I think "proudly" touches the real issue: are we willing to "boast in the Lord", or are we secretly ashamed of Him?

As baptized people, we already bear the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Being embarrassed about that isn't helping anybody. "Tell everyone what he has done ... and proudly bear his name ... with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia!".