That You May Believe Series: Session 23 – Living Like Jesus

Have you ever put yourself out there — said something vulnerable — only to be met with silence? Nobody likes rejection. And yet, if you follow Jesus, rejection may be exactly what you sign up for.

Something is shifting in our culture. There was a time when identifying yourself as a Christian was safe — even an advantage. That's changing. You feel it at work, at the holiday table, online, and in your own home when what your kids are taught at school is the opposite of what they're taught at church.

Maybe you've asked yourself: Is it worth it?

Here's what you need to see — that tension you feel? Jesus felt it too. Not in some abstract theological sense. He felt rejection from his own brothers, disgust from the culture around him, and division from his own people. The cost was real, and he walked straight into it.

In John 7, the Gospel pulls back the curtain on a very human moment in Jesus' life. What we find is that following Jesus may bring three outcomes he himself experienced: disloyalty from family, disgust from the world, and division from your own people.

But Jesus also said this: "Blessed are you when people revile you… rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven."

The cost is real. The reward is greater.