Dealing With the Rejection & Praise of Man
Rejection. Ugh! Many of us have been devoured by its ravages, and most of us have also given it out.
Praise. Now there's a happier word! But the sinister tentacles of man's praise constantly seek to disqualify God's servants from their highest inheritance.
Rejection and Praise are like twin gullies that flank the narrow highway of holiness. Every step counts. For Jesus, man's opinions were meaningless in light of the exuberant affection and passionate approval of His Father.
Learn how to hold your heart before God in a way that pleases Him in the midst of both rejection and praise from people.
Pages: 86
Retail: $9.00
ISBN: 0-9621185-8-3
Here you can read Chapter Nine from Bob's book, Dealing With The Rejection And Praise Of Man.
The chapter excerpted below is Chapter Nine, "The Critical Implications Of Overcoming."
Here's an explanation of Chapter Nine: By the time the reader comes to
Chapter Nine, we have already dealt with handling rejection from others, and
now are looking at how to handle praise from others. Chapter Nine details
four major reasons why it is so critical that we gain victory over the
pitfalls associated with receiving praise from man.
Chapter Nine
The Critical Implications Of Overcoming
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The issues at stake in this subject are absolutely crucial in their
significance. If we come to terms with the praise of man, we will be guided
toward the path of true kingdom fruitfulness. If we lose it here, we hazard
becoming casualties in the war that rages all about us. In this chapter, I
want to articulate how important it is that we press into victory over the
destructive tentacles of man's praise.
Release Of Kingdom Authority
The first issue at stake is this: Will God find worthy vessels with
which He can entrust the higher dimensions of kingdom authority which will be
necessary to consummate the final ingathering and prepare the bride for the
Bridegroom's return?
There is a great cry in the church today, "Lord, send Your power! Revive
Your works; make them known in our generation. Lord, use us in the power
manifestations of Your Holy Spirit!" This is a noble prayer that God longs
to answer, but can He find vessels that will be safe conduits of that kind of
power?
Here's the problem. When God entrusts the higher dimensions of kingdom
authority to His chosen servants, the people of God fawn over them like
they're spiritual superstars. That kind of praise can easily intoxicate
God's servants, causing them to violate their stewardship of the power
giftings without even realizing it.
This was one of the ramifications of Jesus' statement, "'How can you
believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that
comes from the only God?'" (John 5:44). Jesus was saying, "How can you
believe--that is, how can I give you great miracle-working faith to believe
for power manifestations--when you're so easily warmed by the honor of man?"
Jesus was saying He could not give this kind of faith to those who feed off
the praise of man. There is nothing more damaging to the kingdom than
someone who has a little bit of power flowing through their lives, but who is
touched by man's praises. Because when God starts to use you just a little
bit in healing the sick or raising the dead, people will pour all kinds of
attention on you. "For men will praise you when you do well for yourself"
(Psalm 49:18). They will fuss, push, fawn, follow. They will interview you
on their radio and TV stations, they will put your picture in their magazine,
and they will make you feel incredibly important. This kind of attention is
a guaranteed companion of power ministries, and when you begin to enjoy the
attention, you are headed for turbulent waters.
If the fawning attention of man can find a place in your soul, you will
self-destruct. So Jesus says, "I love you too much to give you that kind of
faith and power." So He does a great pruning in our hearts, in order to cut
away and remove that desire for the praise of man.
Jesus' miracles were the way the Father honored Him. That's what Jesus
was pointing to when He said, "It is My Father who honors Me" (John 8:54).
Here's the reason the Father honored Christ with this flow of miracle
anointing: because Jesus' sole passion was to glorify the Father. Jesus'
passion was not that He look good, but that the Father look good.
Mike Bickle has said that God isn't interested in making men, ministries,
or churches famous. He's committed to spreading the fame of His Son
throughout the nations. Amen! I believe God is reserving the greater
power--the mightier release of His Spirit--for the time when the church seeks
to proclaim the riches of Christ's marvelous personality (Ephesians 3:8). He
will anoint and empower believers who seek to capture the hearts of others
for His Son, not for themselves. The greater dimensions of faith will be
given to those who are not touched by the praise of man. They will do great
exploits because their only passion will be to further the reputation of the
beautiful Son of God.
The I-Word
If we do not deal with this business of the praise of man, we succumb to
the greatest of all offences. Let me explain.
Jesus wants to be everything to us. He wants to be our food, our drink,
our sustenance, our life. He wants us to have no other gods before Him. He
doesn't want us receiving life from anything but Him. To be energized by the
honor of man is to find fulfillment in something which Jesus despised.
As I meditated upon this, here's what I saw: To seek the honor of man is
idolatry.
Idolatry is a strong word, but what other word can be used for it? When
I am feeding off something other than Christ, I have no other definition for
that but idolatry. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of the Father"
(John 4:34). Doing the Father's will was Jesus' source of nourishment and
delight. God wants to be my only sustenance. When I feed off the praise of
man, I am finding my source in something other than Jesus. To find my source
of life in something other than Jesus Christ is idolatry.
I am dealing right now with what may possibly be the greatest stronghold
of idolatry in the lives of believers everywhere -- being nourished by the
approval and honor of man. It's not without reason that the apostle John
appealed to the believers in his old age by closing his first epistle with
these words, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen" (1 John
5:21).
O Lord, this form of idolatry was never the willful intention of our
heart! We never meant to make the praises of man something that nourished us
in an idolatrous way. We repent, Lord! Forgive us, and empower us to feed
only on the honor that comes from doing the will of the only God.
Accuracy Of Ministry
Again, the implications of dealing rightly with this area are so crucial
to God's kingdom purposes. Let me go to another ramification of our subject
matter--the question of ministry effectiveness.
The verse that has challenged me the most, in terms of my struggle with
my flesh's desiring the praises of man, is John 7:18, "'He who speaks from
himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent
Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.'" I have been so convicted by
this Scripture because Jesus is saying that every time I speak something that
originates in my heart I am seeking my own glory. Every time I preach a
sermon that has not gotten its impetus from the heart of the Father, I am
speaking out of my own resources and, thus, am seeking to look good before
people. I'm subconsciously groping for their praise.
In contrast, Jesus goes on to say that the one who speaks the message
that God has sovereignly given Him to speak is not trying to look good before
people. His only concern is to look good in God's eyes, so his passion is to
deliver God's message as faithfully as he possibly can.
Jesus says that such a one "is true." The word "true" is an archer's
term. The one who speaks only what God has sent him to speak is like an
arrow: he hits true to the mark. This is our passion in ministry, to hit
"the bull's eye," the center of the target. But so often we find ourselves
hitting somewhere close. We're not way off, but we're not hitting dead
center either. The reason is, there is something in the crevasses of our
flesh that is wanting for our listeners to be impressed with us. As a
result, our ministry does not have its potential impact.
"But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true." Only the
one who seeks to glorify God (really and truly) is able to be "true" to the
mark. When we carry even the slightest desire to impress those around us,
arrows that we deploy in ministry may start out right, but then in transit
they veer away from the mark. It's because they're not deployed from a heart
that is "true"--from a motive that seeks nothing but to honor the Son of God.
I am amazed at what Jesus says about the one who seeks the glory of the
One who sent him. He said there is "no unrighteousness is in Him." What an
incredible declaration! In other words, if I can get to the place where the
only motivation that fills my heart is to bring honor and glory to God, then
I will have arrived at a place of sinlessness.
In other words, Jesus is saying, "This is the final frontier. This is
the last and great battlefield in bringing your soul into subjection. If you
can successfully conquer this desire in your heart for the praise of man, you
will have attained Christian perfection."
If only we could get to the place where there is no desire whatsoever
within us to look good before men and an exclusive and burning desire to see
God glorified! When we crucify this desire to find glory before men, we are
dealing with the central core issue of being dead to self and alive to God. Once we have perfected that attainment we will truly have entered into the
grace of Christian perfection. For this we strain.
O Lord, is this perhaps one reason why I've felt that my ministry has
never reached its potential of impact? I repent, Lord, of wanting to impress
people with my ministry giftings. May the only thing that motivates my heart
be a passion to represent Your message truthfully and faithfully to Your
people, regardless of their impression of me as the vessel. I call upon Your
grace. Help me Lord!
Free Of All Men
In this chapter, I've been giving reasons why it is imperative that we
deal violently and conclusively with the way our hearts want to feel "warm
fuzzies" from the praises of man. My final point is that this is the only
way to enter fully into the liberty for which Christ died to give us, that we
not be entangled again with any yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1).
The Scriptures point out that when a man has something to lose, he lives
under the duress of trying to protect what he owns (see Proverbs 13:8). When
you're rich, you're susceptible to blackmail. But you can't blackmail a
pauper because he has nothing to lose.
Those with no reputation have nothing to lose. Those who have a good
reputation will seek to protect it. Those who seek to cultivate a good
reputation become vulnerable to the praise of man. Jesus was free from man's
praise because He made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7). He had
nothing to lose.
When I have nothing to lose, I'm free. I can't be bought, blackmailed,
or coerced. I have no reputation to maintain, so I'm free from the praise of
man.
When I'm in Christ I already have everything I need, so I have need of
nothing. I no longer need honor from people. I already have all things, so
I have nothing to gain. Jesus had no reputation so He had nothing to
lose--and all that the Father had was His so He had nothing to gain. With
nothing to lose or gain, He was free of all men. In the same way I have
nothing to lose or gain, so I can be totally free of the snare of man's
praise.
When I no longer receive the praise of man, I become free of all men.
What I mean is, I become free to love all men equally and unconditionally. I
can love everyone regardless of their attitude or action toward me.
When your praise doesn't touch me and your rejection doesn't wound me, I
am a free agent. I am able to relate to you in total freedom, for nothing
you do can control who I am and how I relate to you.
Jesus manifested this freedom in loving others. He knew His disciples
would forsake and leave Him at His arrest, and He even prophesied that they
would be thus scattered from Him. But even so, John testified of Jesus that
just before His arrest, "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved
them to the end" (John 13:1). In others words, knowing they would reject
Him, Jesus still showed them the fullness of His love right to the end.
This is the freedom I'm straining toward. Do you accept and honor me? I
love you without showing you any favoritism.
Do you reject me? I love you anyways. I love you, if it were possible,
with the same love with which Christ loves you. You can put nails in my
hands and hang me on a tree, but my love for you does not change.
This is the freedom Jesus died to give us.
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Rejection: The Universal Malady
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Even Jesus Experienced Rejection
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Rejection: God’s Specialty Tool
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The Real Source Of Healing
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Your Source Of Acceptance
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The Snare of Man’s Praise
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Jesus And the Praise Of Man
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How Daniel Handled The Praise Of Man
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The Critical Implications Of Overcoming
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God’s Commitment To Help Us Overcome
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How Should I Praise Other People?
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How Should I Respond When Praised?