He entered the church doors. Alone. This is not new to him, he's so used to going to places alone.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God.
So when it was time to praise his God with songs and dancing, He gave it his all. He seemed like he's lost it - everyone around him was staring at him. Some even laughing and throwing judging gazes. He sang and danced with such zeal, not minding the looks he's receiving.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God.
..for God, who loved him and accepted him, and to whom he's never an outcast.
..for God, who tells him he is chosen and called, despite other people calling him weird or stupid.
..for God, to whom he could come as he is.
..for God, who is his beautiful Creator.
He eagerly listened to the sermon and took to heart everything the preacher said. He was so focused on trying to absorb the wisdom in it, that he did not realize that no one dared to sit beside him.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God.
When the preacher started opening the altar for everyone who wants to respond to God, he stormed to the front. The congregation seemed to stop breathing, seeing this act - this eagerness was outrageous, bizarre, too weird. Some were distracted, the preacher's words slowly coming to a blur. Many thought, "He's really weird isn't he.." A couple of teenagers let out muffled laughter as soon as they noticed him kneeling at the altar, arms raised. Alone.
He couldn't care less about what people thought about what he just did. He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God. And he thought, nothing is too outrageous, too bizarre or too weird, if you do it for God.
Weeks pass. He experience the purest joy in his rich encounters with God in church.
But he couldn't hide it. He struggled in that very place. Entering that church did not free him from the bullying he experiences in the world outside its doors. He's used to being laughed at, but there are plenty of times when he wished he'd be taken seriously. He cried out to God, "Are they really your disciples? Shouldn't Your disciples follow the way You love?" Knowing that hating on them is not how he should deal with this, he kept on repeating to himself:
"I came here not for the people, after all. I came here for my God."
But this mantra could only go so far. It lost its healing effect little by little with every laugh he heard, with every insulting joke thrown at him, with every stare he received and with every moment he felt like he was the star of another clique's inside joke, repeatedly stabbed behind his back.
He never imagined it would be this way when he first entered the church doors. Now it felt like being accepted and loved were all a far-away fantasy. He can hardly remember how he felt when he first experienced God's warm embrace, when he had the joy of discovering where he truly belonged - in God's arms. All these faded from his memory as he was being bombarded by all these cold insults. Will he ever be loved? Will he ever be accepted? If, even the church itself, who are ought to be known to have the most genuine love, rejected him, who else will offer him an authentic smile and welcome? He's too weary in his quest of finding the love he's always thirsted for. He found it in God, but this discovery was stained by the constant insult he received from those who claimed to follow this God. He lost faith in true love, he thought that he would never receive the love that God said he would. He thought to himself,
"I was meant to be an outcast."
And so he stormed away from the altar out of the church doors and never came back again.
"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Jesus said this in John 13:35.
Will you call yourself a follower of Jesus if you screen the people who you will love?
Jesus showed an extreme love by reaching out to the outcasts - He sat down and ate with tax collectors, and defended a prostitute against religious leaders. We are called to do the same. If we just would follow His example, we would experience the greatest surprise - how much of a seeker of God are these people labeled "outcasts" by the world!
#RevolutionizingLove
Who are the people you know who are labeled "outcasts" or "weird" by this world? How do you show God's love to them?
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