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■ Pray together: Give thanks for your experiences, ask God for help where you need it.
■ Pray together to learn new things about God and that your relationship with God deepens and gets stronger.
Acts 17:16-34
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
29“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”33At that, Paul left the Council.34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
Verses 32-34 describe three reactions from listeners that we will also encounter when we speak about faith. Knowing this helps us to be prepared for it.
How can we deal with negative reactions, particularly with rejection?
■ Identify the lie behind your fear: When we‘ve experienced rejection and remember this as a painful experience, harmful thoughts quickly start to creep in. E.g.: “In future, I will protect myself by simply never telling anyone anymore about my faith ever again”. With such thoughts, fear is creeping into our lives. God designed us to build a deep relationship with him and trust him. But fear can hinder us to do so. Fear can start to dig its roots in our thoughts. If this is the case, it will always pull us down. As a result, fear hinders us to discover treasures God has in store for us because it blocks God‘s power, wisdom, love and joy in our lives. How do we win against fear? Actually, behind every fear, there usually is a lie. The problem are not foreseeable problems or conflicts. The problem is a lie about God that we believe. It generally is a lie about God‘s ability to protect us, to provide for us and to equip us for any given situation. Did you start to believe something false about God‘s abilities in your life as a result of an experienced rejection?
■ Forgive: In order for us to be free from fear and courageously take steps forward, it is important that we forgive the person responsible for the said experience. Take your time for personal prayer to forgive those you think you should forgive (there are some practical steps to help you in unit „Growth Through Forgiveness“). Everyone for themselves.
■ Confess: If there is a lie about God‘s character you‘ve believed in so far, confess it to God and additionally also your own sinful reactions
(e.g withdrawal, anger, distrust in Jesus). Everyone for themselves.
■ Replace: Replace the lie by the truth of God. The truth is what God‘s Word says about himself and about us. What scripture does the Holy Spirit recall in you? What does it say to you? Proclaim this over your situation.
■ Receive: Pray in groups of 2-3: Submit to the authority and leadership of the Holy Spirit and pray that he fills you with love, faith, joy, courage and wisdom.
We should not be taken by surprise or feel attacked when people reject the gospel.
Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ once said: “We take initiative in sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results to God”.
If we feel rejected by people because of our faith, it is really Jesus that people are rejecting. This perspective should help us to better deal with difficult reactions and not to feel offended or even attacked (compare Acts 9:1-5).
We need to remind ourselves constantly that we are obstructing the kingdom of darkness when we speak about faith. Hence negative reactions and opposition are not just a human, worldly component, but are really effects of a battle that is fought in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12). If we experience opposition, it is something completely normal! But it also means that we need to learn how to fight. Forgiveness is one of the most powerful weapons in the Kingdom of God against the arrows that are shot at us, intended to hurt us or bring us from our path.
Jesus tells us not to ignore conflicts. Conflicts can’t be avoided, but managed. Here are some examples of people in the Bible who managed conflicts in different ways: Acts 6:1-6 und Genesis 13:1-9.
Some other Bible verses about conflict resolution:
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