I have tried very hard many times to do things
that ended up blowing up in my face. I have a pencil lead in my right hand that
is from trying to help a girl in school who was always picked on by others. I
bent down to give the pencil to her that she dropped on the floor and when I
gave it to her she yelled at me while slamming the pencil into the palm of my
hand. She wasn’t trying to do me harm. She was striking back because she
thought I was going to pick on her or do her harm like so many others had done.
It hurt my feelings to be lumped into the group of those who were making fun of
a disabled young girl when I was trying to do something good.
Do you realize that many times we face the same kind of hurt feelings and
are floored by the reactions of people when we have tried to do something that
was good and beneficial to those involved? There are times in life when we want
to try something new or are interested in learning about something that our
families and friends just don’t appreciate. What is worse is when we want to
try something or get involved in a work or project with the church and face the
same kind of ridicule or frustration. Maybe we wanted to teach a class on a
certain subject or age group, or maybe we suggested a different method of
greeting our visitors, or maybe we even were bold enough to suggest we change
the order of worship or even the time that we meet and then were taken aside
and shown “the way of God more accurately” by our brethren. In such cases, it
would be so easy to run away and hide. It would be tempting to quit worshiping
with that group and go somewhere else. It would be frustrating to feel like our
opinion doesn’t matter.
When we are faced with rejection from our brethren when we are trying very
hard to do what is right, we need to make sure we respond to the decision in
the best possible way. We must realize that in matters of opinion, things don’t
have to go my way. Additionally, we need to realize that there may be good
reasons why the brethren don’t want to change. There may have been a similar
mission tried in the past. There may have been an effort made that was rejected
from others. There may be something in the story we do not know about and
sharing those things with us might not be an option. Yes, it may be that the
people aren’t ready to get to work and need some direction on the mission and
purpose of the church. Yes, there may need to be an attitude adjustment made to
certain individuals, but that is not our place. If we have made an offer or
suggestion to the brethren and the eldership but it was rejected, we should not
have a knee jerk reaction to take our ball and go home. We must humbly submit
and keep striving toward helping others to give God first place in their hearts
while helping the church to grow.
Can you imagine the embarrassment James and John felt in that Samaritan
village where they wanted to command fire to come down and destroy the city?
Jesus rebuked them for wanting to destroy men’s lives rather than saving them
(Luke 9:51-56). When Jesus prophesied of His coming death, Peter said that he
wasn’t going to let this happen. Jesus replied, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are
an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things
of men” (Matt. 16:21-23). These three men would have felt embarrassment and
frustration, but they did not leave Christ. In fact, they are later described
as being a part of the group that turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
Don’t quit and don’t give up!
We can learn from the example of Aquila and Priscilla in how they worked
with Apollos. Apollos was a man who loved God, was fervent in spirit, spoke and
taught accurately, but didn’t know about the baptism of Christ. Fortunately,
there was a loving couple who took him aside and explained to him the way of
God more accurately and even sent a letter to other brethren so that Apollos
would be well received and be put to work in the kingdom. When he arrived he
was a great help to the church and he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly
showing from Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 18:24-28). Do you think
that these three brethren hid from each other after this? I suggest to you that
they loved each other and formed a closer bond because they were able to grow and
further the kingdom. A problem was handled but it was handled in the right
manner.
If you have tried and been rejected, don’t feel like a failure. Keep on
fighting for the Lord. If you are trying to help someone work more effectively
for the Lord, don’t belittle them. Take them aside and teach and support them.
Then let us all get to work together. If we do, there will not be
embarrassment.
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