FAMILY REJECTION

Graeme was part of a group of Satanists at my school. He came to know Jesus during a church event. From that point he always came to youth group meetings. He read his Bible and loved his new life with God. But one day I noticed he looked really down. When I asked why, he said his parents didn’t like of his new way of life. They wanted him to go back to how he was before. They were more comfortable with his clubbing, drinking and dark rituals than they were with his Bible reading, praying and church involvement.

I wonder if Graeme’s story helps us make sense of Jesus’ statement: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple” (LUKE 14:26). Does Jesus really want us to hate our families? No, I don’t think that is quite what He’s saying. The point is that our love for Him is to be so strong, that by comparison every other love seems like hate. It means that when life with our parents is hard (maybe because they don’t like us being Christians) we still follow Jesus and listen to Him first. It means we value what He says about us more than what anyone else may say.

The Apostle Paul challenged Timothy to “not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord” because “the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 TIMOTHY 1:7-8). Jesus needs to come first in our lives, even when we face pressure to change—that way we’ll continue to be His witnesses, even to our families. And then we can pray that He’ll use our witness to change their lives too.