Acceptance
By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary
Everyone wants friends and they would be lying if they say they don’t. Everyone wants to feel accepted and part of something, but the facts of life is, you are not always going to feel acceptance around certain people. There are always going to be people who don’t like you for one reason or another. Sometimes it makes us feel bad when people do not accept us and it ends up effecting our own self esteem. What we fail to sometimes realize it may not be you with the “problem” at all; it could be those that won’t accept you that has the problem. Maybe they have mental issues. Maybe they are jealous of you. Maybe they are just plain stuck up snobs that wouldn’t even accept Jesus if he appeared in front of them disguised as someone else. Think about it. Do you really want to be around people like that? Stop trying so hard to get people to accept you into some sort of a group or crowd that Jesus wouldn’t even waste His time with. You might say, “Oh wait a minute, doesn’t Jesus love everyone? Wouldn’t Jesus not give up and keep trying to gain someone’s approval?” Think about this. Jesus sent his disciples out to minister to people and told them in Matthew 10:14-15 “If anyone doesn't welcome you or listen to what you say, leave that house or city, and shake its dust off your feet. I can guarantee this truth: Judgment day will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city.” Jesus didn’t keep badgering people. They had a choice to accept Him or not. Accepting Jesus meant and still means eternal life. Rejecting Him meant and still means eternal damnation.
I hung out in barrooms for many years before I became a Christian. I would watch guys keep on and keep on trying to get girls to dance with them that had turned them down several times. I never did that because it was humiliating. When a girl turned you down, everyone in the whole place seemed to know it. They especially seemed to know it if a guy kept getting turned down by the same girl time after time. Well, I wasn’t about to let that happen to me. I knew how to handle rejection. As a matter of fact, depending on what mood I was in, on more than one occasion it went something like this:
Me: “Would you like to dance?”
Woman: No I would not like to dance.”
Me: “You misunderstood me. I said you look fat in those pants!”
See, I was not about to waste my time trying to get some girl who was not interested in me to dance, when all I had to do is ask someone else and I would find a girl that would love to dance with me.
There is always that group of folks that you think you want to be part of but when you get to know them, you find nine out of ten times they are superficial phonies. Don’t waste your time with people like that. I would rather have one true friend I know I can depend on then 50 fake friends that talk behind my back and doesn’t care about me at all.
When Jesus went to strangers they welcomed Him and He ministered to them. He healed the sick, fed the poor, made the crippled walk and raised the dead. Yet, when Jesus went to His hometown they not only rejected Him but they put him down. They said things like “Isn’t this the Carpenter’s son?” The Bible says they actually were offended by Him! Offended because of what? Offended because Jesus wanted to minister to people in His hometown? They had no right to be offended. Jealous of Him would be an accurate description. In Matthew 13:57-58 Jesus said "The only place a prophet isn't honored is in his hometown and in his own house." He didn't work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
I have been in that situation. When I first became a minister 20 years ago, I was attending home bible fellowship groups. I knew this girl named Karen Bisgaard that started a home fellowship group that I thought was my friend. I started attending her small group and invited all kinds of singles from the church to attend. Her group grew rather large and when we would have prayer, people would come to me and ask me to pray over them. I carried anointing oil and would use that and pray over them and people were testifying how they were healed or how their prayers were answered. Karen called me on the phone one day and told me I was not to bring my anointing oil to her group anymore and she didn’t want me praying for or ministering to anyone. She told me the people were taking the focus off of her and putting it on me. She explained it was her group and she was the leader and if I didn’t want to obey her command she would have the pastors call me and they could explain it to me in language I would understand. I didn’t want the pastors bothered with such petty nonsense, so I told her I would not be attending her group anymore and she said “Oh good! That is what I was hoping you would say!” I kept my word and didn’t attend and started attending another one and everyone came to that one and Karen lost her group. She was furious! She bad-mouthed me and put me down every chance she got after that and accused me of destroying her group. It was so sad. You see, it was not me that was bringing healings. I have NEVER healed anyone in my life. It was Jesus doing the healings. I was just a mere vessel that was used by the Holy Ghost to pray over someone. When people start thinking it is them doing the healings and miracles, then there is a serious problem.
There is also a serious problem when they get jealous because God is using someone that they think should not be used because of the mistakes they made in the past before becoming a Christian. The thing is, I had lived in Oklahoma most of my life with the exception of my junior high and high school years which I spent in Southern California. Some people like Karen remembered my past as a hell-raising sinner who led the Ku Klux Klan and could never get past that. People like that are to be pitied. It was the same with Jesus. The people in His hometown remembered the kid who grew up there and worked with his father as a carpenter. He left and had been gone for awhile and came back years later and was teaching in the synagogue and people were amazed by what He had to say. The townspeople who knew Him years before grew jealous, putting Him down and rejecting Him. As a result Jesus didn’t work many miracles in His hometown because of the lack of faith and the way people treated Him.
I have been ministering for 20 years and have gone to some churches where the pastor has rejected a return visit even though the people asked that he have me back. A lot of times it is because of jealousy either from the pastor himself, or someone in his congregation that objects to him having me minister. It should never be that way. So many people have missed out on being ministered to or maybe even missed out on a chance to get saved because they might have heard something that was said in my sermons that could have convicted them and drawn them to Jesus, but the bitter root of jealousy kept them from it. A pastor may have wanted to have me minister, but there could be some people in his church that don’t like me and he is afraid he might lose them as members if he has me minister, especially if they are huge tithe-payers who control the strings financially or even members of his own family. If the church is not very large he feels he simply cannot take the chance on having me come if it means he might lose the member or members who object to my ministry. That is sad because if a pastor feels that way then he has his faith in money and not in God. He sees those people as his source and not God. What he fails to consider is there might be new people who get saved and could really help him in areas of church growth and finances but he missed that opportunity because of lack of faith and insight.
Remember what Jesus did after his hometown critics rejected and insulted him? He left and headed out for Cana of Galilee for a return visit because He had been there before. So why did He go back ? Simple. He went back to the people who really accepted Him. Notice I said accepted not tolerated. I hate that word “tolerance” because it means tolerate; Allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something or someone that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference. The folks in that place not only accepted Jesus but they celebrated Him! I once heard an evangelist say, “I go where I am celebrated not where I am tolerated!” That is what Jesus did. You would do well to remember that when you choose friends , what crowd you want to hang with, or what church you want to attend.
Do an evaluation on your friends and the church you attend. Are your friends giving you encouragement? Are they excited about what God is doing in your life? Do they want to see you succeed? How about the church you are attending? Are you encouraged by the pastors and the staff? Do they recognize your gifts and use you? For instance if you can sing, do they ask you to? If you can preach, does your pastor invite you to? If the answer to all of these question are no, then you need to get some new friends and find a new church. Don’t hang around friends who do not appreciate you. Do not stay in a church where your gifting of God is not recognized or used. Do what Jesus said to do and shake the dust off your feet and hit the road jack and don’t you go back no more! There are some new friends waiting for you. There is a new church on down the road that will use you. Don’t stay in a place where people don’t like you or your gift, or that hold your past or mistakes against you. God created you and you are special to Him. There are people who can benefit from you or what you have to offer. There will always be people who reject you, but Jesus will never reject you. Jesus said in Rev. 3:20 “Look, I'm standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and we'll eat together.” Don’t be afraid to make changes in your life. “The LORD is the one who is going ahead of you. He will be with you. He won't abandon you or leave you. So don't be afraid or terrified." Deuteronomy 31:8
Jesus celebrates you. He does not tolerate you. Return the favor!
That’s called…ACCEPTANCE!
©www.johnnyleeclary.com
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.
