Today’s Reading, Matthew 13
Focal Scripture: Matthew 13:57 “And they were offended by him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.”
The hardest people to lead and talk to about your faith are those you knew you while you were younger. It comes from expectations that they have in their mind about who you are and how you should do ministry. The problem is that you grow up and become wiser. You have life experiences that they didn’t have and then when you don’t fit inside of their man made box and so problems ensue.
I can tell you from personal experience that going back home to serve was one of the best experiences and one of the worst experiences I have had in my ministry life. On one hand I got to ministry in a place that I loved. A place where my faith went from shallow to the deep end of the pool. God blessed and many people came to a saving faith in Christ. However, it was also difficult because people wanted my faith to be under control. They wanted a tame faith. They didn’t want to be pushed out of their comfort zone and challenged spiritually. When difficult decisions were made and I wasn’t allowed to explain those decisions it caused pain for others. People who should have known my heart and my character were offended by things that weren’t true.
In today’s reading Jesus talks about going back to his hometown and doing ministry. These people who knew him and saw him grow up didn’t accept his message. They found him offensive and refused to listen to his words. Why? Because they made up their mind about Jesus because they assumed they knew his heart. Jesus words were rejected by those who should have trusted him more than anyone.
What I want you to see today from the reading is this truth; witnessing to and leading those who have already made up their mind about you is difficult. Many assumptions will be made. Communication will become difficult because they believe they know your thinking. Then you may very well be rejected because your message of the gospel challenges them to rethink the way things have always been.
I want to make clear today that I don’t regret going back to my hometown to minister. The good that happened for the kingdom outweighs the bad that took place. However, the hardest part of leaving was not being able to tell the truth because I was trying to protect the church and new believers from what was really happening. This in turn lead to me offending others and many assumptions being made.
Why do I tell this personal story? Because when relationships are deep the potential for misunderstanding is even greater. Our calling however is to give everyone the truth even if they reject that truth because of who not comes from in their life.
Be bold in your declaration of the truth and never waiver. The people who know you from your youth need biblical truth even if they reject the messenger. Be encouraged that biblical truth will work in the lives of people no matter who it comes from and seeds will be planted. Be faithful and always make much of Jesus.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Matthew 14-16
