The Ministry of Acceptance
By Jon Walker
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16 (NIV)
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Growing up, I considered my older brother the embodiment of cool. Cole was funny, handsome, athletic, and popular. He married the homecoming queen and then became an Air Force pilot.
Because I grew up feeling like an outsider, I often wished I could be like my brother, who seemed accepted and liked by just about everyone. One summer, I stayed a few weeks with my brother, and while we were at a restaurant with his many pilot friends and their wives, Cole said, “I think Jon would fit in well with our group.”
Those words count among the most meaningful ever said to me. My cool brother was telling me I was accepted, and his cool friends agreed with him.
All of us have felt the sting of rejection. Perhaps you were the last one picked on the ball field, or maybe you were told you’d never measure up.
Perhaps you struggled through an unrequited love, or maybe the company you poured your life into let you go with all the flourish and finesse of a guillotine.
The good news is Jesus accepts “rejects.” Throughout the New Testament Jesus didn’t care who you were or where you’d been – thieves, prostitutes, sleazy bill collectors, lepers, or the poor.
And he also accepts nerds, geeks and freaks, people with zits, split ends, flat chests, or beer bellies. He accepts people who don’t have any friends, and those who have an abundance of friends. He accepts people who’ve made mistakes and those who will never admit they make mistakes.
Our lesson from Jesus is that he sees every person as an individual – valuable, important, and created by God. Jesus looks past the surface, deep into our very souls, and yet he still loves us and accepts us.
If you’d like to receive these devotionals regularly, you can sign-up at www.gracecreates.com/subscribe/. Jon Walker writes from www.gracecreates.com. He is a Zondervan author, and the former writer/editor of the Purpose Driven Life On-Line Devotionals. This devotional is copyrighted 2009 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.
