I’ve been rejected. So have you. In one way or another we’ve all had to face rejection.
The causes vary. Sometimes our personality might rub some the wrong way. Professionally, we just might not be good enough. There are times when the real problem is with the other person. They reject you because they’re not happy about something in their own life. You might remind them of someone they don’t like, and automatically write you off.
Maybe there is something wrong with you. When it comes to looks, I have a face made for radio. [My wife will probably want to edit out that sentence, but I won’t let her. By the way, she’s really cute.]
What hurts me the most is when someone automatically rejects me because of my faith. In my role as a hospital chaplain, I’ve had people tell me, one way or another, that they don’t want me around 10 seconds after I walk into their room. They don’t even give me a chance to be helpful, assuming I’m an aggressive evangelist or there to read them the riot act.
I can’t take it personal. They’re not rejecting me. They’re rejecting what I represent.
That still hurts. I cherish my faith. I know the benefits that come from seeking God. I also understand that their rejection is based on bad experiences real or imagine, sensationalized half-truths, and false assumptions.
What happens next? I don’t believe Christ has called us to give up too easily. He didn’t. But at some point, you know you just need to move on. And that’s okay.
Jesus told his disciples that if they try to share the good news and are rejected, to walk away [Matthew 10:14-15]. We see him walk away from rejection in Luke 9:51-56. Paul and Barnabas had to do that in Acts 13:44-46. Paul had to do it again in Acts 18:6.
It’s not the place of believers today to go around correcting people. Yet about a thousand years before Jesus, King Solomon advised that if you did try, the people you want to help may turn on you. [Proverbs 9:7]
In his most famous sermon, Jesus said in Matthew 7:6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” [NIV]
I’ve had people get very hostile with me when I’ve tried to model the love and grace and peace of God. It’s hard not to take it personal. I have to remind myself that usually these people have no idea what they’re talking about.
Until something in them changes, we need to do our best to be salt and light [Matthew 5:13-16], keep them in our prayers, and look for ways to be helpful so we can earn the right to be heard.
Even if they reject us for something unrelated to our faith, perhaps this response is still worthwhile, for their sake and our own.
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Dave Soucie lives, serves and writes in Indianapolis.
Copyright © 2024 by Dave Soucie. All rights reserved [but permission is granted for non-commercial use only, with proper citation and by informing the author].
Dave Soucie 