Last weekend, Francis Chan encouraged Christians to abandon the pursuit of popularity and rejoice in being a reject. Speaking at Together 2016, Chan told the crowd: "In a generation that is obsessed with popularity and being liked and getting 'Likes,' Jesus says the way to become significant and to have an impact is through rejection."
The crowd Chan addressed was full of young believers, but the pursuit of popularity isn't a generational problem. Christians of all ages can become wrapped up in people-pleasing over pleasing God from time to time.
You're in good company
Our greatness isn't defined or measured by how people think we're great but how close we are to Christ.
Jesus is among the list of biblical figures who were rejected by members of their communities. Many people rejected his truth and refused to believe that he was the Son of God. Ultimately their rejection of him led to his death. Thankfully, because of Jesus' sacrifice, today when we're rejected by the world because we follow him, life not death is what awaits us at the end.
The God standard is the gold standard
A lot of the time rejection from those around us is down to our refusal or failure to fit into their mould or meet their expectations. We might not be popular enough, trendy enough or we might be "too" vocal about our faith or "too" forgiving.
God doesn't form His opinion of us based on the same standards that many other people do. It comes as no surprise that the things we need to do to fit in are often at odds with what we need to do to follow Christ. He'd rather we were focused on forgiveness than being famous, pursuing righteousness than having an enviable reputation.
You're powerful on the sidelines with God by your side
With popularity comes power, right? The power to influence others to get what you want, to experience privileges. At the opposite end of the scale is unpopularity and unpopularity can make us feel inadequate. After all, how can we impact change if we're on the sidelines? How can we appeal to others to follow Christ if we're a reject?
As odd as it may seem, it's these very things – rejection and being positioned on the sidelines of society – that can help us bring more hearts to Christ. We're not the only ones who are rejected or who reject the ways of the world, but we are the only ones who have hope and joy when we do so because of Christ. This hope and joy can intrigue and inspire those who haven't yet given their hearts to God.
As "rejects" we're free from the pressures of doing what helps us maintain a particular position in society and can focus on pursuing God's favour. We're also more accessible to the kind of people who Jesus himself spent time with. While a high profile and status often removes the possibility of interacting with those who are rejected by society, setting ourselves apart from societal ideals means that we can ignore the barriers that would otherwise prevent us from engaging with those who are on the sidelines of society. We can be powerful in our unpopularity.
