This year we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter. Find this series also published by UC Berkeley’s TAUG and Cornell’s Claritas.
When my fellowship was asked what the biggest obstacle to evangelizing was, the top answer was rejection. This was because it felt and still feels like an explicit mark against our character, that our knowledge or passion proves to be insufficient and we are unworthy. Jeremiah experienced this fear, facing rejection from not only priests and prophets, but even his own family when preaching about judgment. He recognized and came to terms with the fact that being Christian automatically places us in the line of fire for ridicule, “insult, and reproach all day long” (Jeremiah 20:8). Especially in our ever-changing and “progressive” society, we too experience the insurmountable questions and whispering on all sides that parallel Jeremiah’s experience. But the Lord knows our insecurities and hears our inner cries for help as Satan tries to entangle us (Psalm 18).
However, it is important to note that this kind of rejection often stems from misunderstanding—misunderstanding of the truth right in front of our eyes. In John 10, we see Jesus face off against his Jewish opponents, who condemn him as blasphemous for calling himself God. In response, Jesus questions their basic knowledge of Scripture. He reminds them that in their own scriptures, anyone who represents God the Father can be called a god themself. How then can Jesus, who is sent by and represents God, be considered blasphemous?
We hate to be wrong, which may be why rejection feels so bad. It directly challenges our deep-seated and practiced ways of life. Given that rejections of the Christian faith are often not enough to tear us away from God, it should come as no surprise that identifying flaws in the Jews’ logic was insufficient in changing their hearts. Jesus experienced outright rejection the same way we do, yet he subverts it by taking a different approach: he asks that even if people do not believe in him, that they consider his works to be of the Father, that they “may know and understand that the Father is in [him] and [him] in the Father” (John 10:38).
Psalm 18, John 10, and Jeremiah 20 show us not only that God hears and knows our struggles with rejection, but that rejection itself is a shared experience in any given conversation. Just as it is difficult to hear someone reject the Christian faith, it is equally painful to be on the other side and told that your way of life has been flawed from the very beginning—both in practice and belief. This calls us to consider alternative means of conveying God’s promises. While we may not be able to convince someone to believe in God at the drop of the hat, we can live in a way that exemplifies God’s provision and sustenance, so that others may experience God through us. Whether that’s overtly through how we spend our time or subtly in how we treat others and approach problems, God’s love ought to be reflected in our lives in a way that refracts onto others.
Thus, as we approach the end of Lent, I encourage you to pray for the strength to reflect God’s promise even in the face of rejection and doubt. May our lives serve as testaments to God’s grace and truth for all to see.
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