REJECTION

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

John 1:9-10

Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

Mark 4:9

Please let me take you back to the story of Jesus  in the last post. I want to make sure you didn’t miss this most important part:

“I’ve been thinking much about how Jesus overcame the injustices of his day. For one thing, he recognized things that were wrong with the world at a time when others accepted them as normal. He showed compassion for those who were being rejected. He recognized their pain when others didn’t and became an example for all of us who want to follow him.

“Jesus saw the pain suffered by rejected individuals at a time when others were blind to it. He spent his three years of ministry trying to fight the injustices he saw. He spoke out against it. But He did a lot more than that. By his actions he showed how injustice could be overcome with love.”

As Christians, we know Jesus and what he did for us and the world. But do we understand enough? Are we fully aware of how he saw what was wrong at the time he lived when everyone else was accepting it as normal?

Can we, as his followers, recognize the things that are wrong with the world we live in today? Can we see the injustice in how many people are rejected or made to feel unworthy? These are probably feelings that all of us have been made to feel at one time or another. If Jesus were with us today, what would he think?

Through Jesus’s eyes, try to grasp the extent to which the world is rejecting people today—all kinds of people. Jesus sees and feels the immensity of the pain they suffer. He has compassion. He feels their pain just like he feels the pain we suffer. And through the love he shows them, and the love he shows us, we all find healing.

What would he have us do as individuals who want to follow him?

He calls us to help heal the emotional pain that rejection brings—something that so many people feel. We can help them feel God’s love, as Jesus did. One person at a time.

Jesus calls us to have compassion and to love.

A reminder: My 48-page booklet, Healing the Effects of Stigma: How Can We Help? is now available from Amazon.

marja