Have you ever been rejected? What a stupid question, right? I suspect that if we could poll the entire population of the world, every single person on earth would say that they had been rejected somewhere, at some time, for some reason.
In today’s reading, we have the story of Jesus being rejected in his childhood home of Nazareth. (13:53-58) It’s not an uncommon experience. The people you grew up with have trouble envisioning you as anything other than that awkward, precocious, perhaps belligerent 13-year-old who drove everyone mad! Does that hit a little close to home? (This, bye the way, is one reason I’m such a fan of kids going away to college. They not only need to grow up and become adults; They need to be given the chance to do so, as well.) It can be tough trying to get taken seriously among the hometown crowd. As the old adage goes: “Familiarity breeds contempt.”
What then, is the spiritual lesson for us from this story. Simply this, don’t pay too much attention to your critics. Even Jesus, despite His miracles and obvious learning, had folks who simply didn’t want to believe in Him. Frankly, their lack of faith had much more to do with themselves, than it did with Christ. Furthermore, if you find that you’re unable to “work wonders” among people who don’t believe in you, don’t sweat it. Not even Jesus could work with folks who wouldn’t believe in Him—and, trust me brother, YOU ARE NO JESUS. (Neither am I.)
Sure, rejection is hard. But it’s something that comes upon everyone. In the end, as Paul said, it’s not only irrelevant what others think of us—it’s even irrelevant what we think of us! Only God’s judgment matters. (1 Cor. 4:3-4) Entrust yourself to Him, and all will be well.
-- Justin
No comments:
Post a Comment