Acceptance and Rejection

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you.” – Jesus Christ, to his disciples

The world hates me?  Ouch!  That hurts!

Never having seen a study on the topic, I would venture to guess that the primary reason believers do not share with others the full and abundant life they’ve found in Jesus Christ is their fear of rejection.  Let’s be honest: people’s opinions affect us.  So much so that we become what we aren’t in order to gain acceptance, and we hide who we are to avoid rejection and humiliation.  And in so doing, we recklessly hand over to others the power to define our identity; we invite them to determine who we must be, what we must say and how we must act.

True confession.  For years, I was partially muted by my need for the approval of – and inclusion by – others.  Like the wicked servant in the parable of the talents, I hid the good news of Jesus in the ground and was on course to hand it back to the Master unscathed ... and uninvested. 

But literally by the grace of God, that changed.  One day I decided to carve out some time each morning to read Scripture and then to record the thoughts it provoked in me and to respond in prayer.  In a matter of a few short weeks, I sensed God’s closeness like never before!  His presence was no less real than if he had assumed bodily form and sat across the table.  And he opened my eyes to new wonders and insights that had eluded me all my life.

As we met for our daily conversation – his word and my response – his unconditional love for me was overcoming my need for the conditional approval of others.  If the God of the universe, who knew everything about me, was yet eager to meet with me and teach me new things, how could I more highly treasure anything less?  God was showing me the truth of my identity in him and emancipating me from the dictates of others.

I’m not sure how, but I started to view people differently – fellow travelers with me on our brief journey this side of eternity.  I began to long for them to find what I had found – that Jesus was real and that, in him, we could find light and life, abundant and eternal.  And rather than seeking their acceptance, it became important to me to show them mine.  Just as Jesus had shown me his.

This was all God’s doing.  Every last bit of it.  And he still has much work to do in me.  But I share this as a message of hope.  We need not assume a faux identity to meet the demands of people; Christ is our life, for he has made us one with him.  We need not bury the gospel in fear; we can freely proclaim it as the power of God for salvation.

Will we be hated?  Yes, by people who want us to be what they think we should be. 
Will we be loved?  Yes, by the God who has made us one with him.

[Click here to see the daily devotional in John 15:18 – 6:4.] 

Rejected!

“Every Sabbath, [Paul] reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads!  I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’” Acts 18:4-6

Under the sovereignty of God, there is something remarkable about rejection: it exposes our entrapment in the opinions and acceptance of others as a faux snare from which we have always been free; indeed, it would have been best for all – both captive and captors – if, in the strength of truth, we had commenced from its deception long ago.

Confession: For most of my life, I allowed a desire for the acceptance of others to unduly influence my decisions. Regrettably, this character weakness tempered to some extent my service to Jesus, even though this Son of God, himself, suffered rejection to the point of death for my sin!  Imagine my dismay, though, when a few years ago I suffered a type of rejection from some whose acceptance I had sought. It hurt!  Badly!  But I can tell you now that, not only did Jesus very closely embrace and guide me through that experience, he used it to open my eyes to the false trap of conditional acceptance. I actually am grateful now for that experience, for I found in it a freedom to which, until then, I had been blinded.

While I let the opinions of others stymie my freedom in Christ, Paul exercised his freedom to speak the truth of Christ. In the City of Corinth, he modeled for all of us a confidence that can be ours in the face of rejection ...

Paul persevered. Every Sabbath, every Sabbath, every Sabbath ... Paul tried and tried and tried to persuade the Jews and Greeks that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Despite constant rejection, Paul yet persevered.

Paul doubled down. When Silas and Timothy came to town, Paul then “devoted himself exclusively” to preaching and testifying about Jesus. Not only did he persevere, he increased his focus and effort.

Paul was practical. There is an entire world full of people open to God's love and his Way to salvation for them. Rather than dilute his efforts among the Jews who had intensified in their rejection of the gospel, Paul directed his attention exclusively to the Corinthian Gentiles, among whom there was much spiritual harvest and immediate spiritual fruit.

Living in the gracious and eternal approval of Christ far surpasses the conditional and temporal nature of worldly acceptance. And when others reject us, his close presence becomes even clearer to us.

The snare of acceptance? It's an illusion. You’re free. Walk away.

Jesus goes with you. Always.

The Story – Chapter 26 – Matthew 27:32-50

Why God?

　
It was a dark day. My world was about to be turned upside down. As I sat down with my fiancée (we had been dating for two years through high school and college) she told me her reason for breaking up with me. At first I believed her but then I doubted. Finally she confessed that she had met someone else and didn’t love me anymore.

The pain that she caused felt unbearable. The following three months were chaotic. I couldn’t concentrate on my classes, my friends didn’t want to be around me because I was so angry and I was depressed. One night I went for a walk and cried out to God as I lay on the ground in agony, "Why God"?

God was using my rejection and pain to bring me closer to Him. Two thousand years before this He used His son’s rejection and pain to make it possible for all to know Him. As Jesus hung on the cross he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me"?
He was alone. His closest friends and followers had turned away from him. The crowds that had only a few days before given him a king’s welcome, now mocked and insulted him. Even His Heavenly Father had rejected him.

Yet this was why he had come. Everything that he had done before this, lead up to this. Healing the sick, feeding the five thousand, teaching his followers and touching the unclean were only means to an end. Not the end of his life, but the beginning – the beginning of forgiveness and being in intimate fellowship with the God of creation.

Why did Jesus go through all of the pain and suffering even to the point of declining to drink the wine and gall which would deaden the pain? Hebrews 12:2 says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".

There was joy before him. The joy of one day being able to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God, his Father. Not only that, but the joy of knowing that he made it possible for you and for me to sit at the throne of God and call Him Abba, Father.

Read the lesson here.

Listen to the lesson here.