Facing Hostility

“When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. ‘Where did this man get these things?’ they asked. ‘What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.  He was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:2-6 NIV)

I have experienced it and I’ve witnessed it many times over the years of my ministry to students.  Family members can be among the most doubtful and hostile when it comes to walking with the Lord.  When I was in college, there was a point when my mother thought I was part of a cult and one of my brothers thought I was taking “this religion thing” way too far.  After spending my adult life in vocational ministry, my siblings and extended family long ago accepted my choice and several embraced it, as did my mother whom I had the privilege of baptizing not long before her death.  But when it comes to matters of faith, family members often become obstacles.

Mission trips to faraway places, ministry internships, and calling students to follow Jesus wherever He leads often brings me into conflict with their family members, either directly or indirectly.  I recall one time having a face-to-face conversation with a father whose daughter desired to travel to Haiti with a group I was leading.  Actually, it was more like a monologue where he just kept telling me how dangerous the country was and how much more he and his friends knew than I did. He wouldn’t allow her to go and we came and returned without incident.  

Another time, another father called me about his daughter accompanying us on a trip to South Africa.  In a very agitated voice, he asked question after question, each more filled with doubt than the previous one.  Amazingly, he later gave his approval, but not until after his daughter was almost beside herself by her father’s doubts and worries.  

And I have heard countless stories from students seeking to do internships or pursue ministry opportunities of family opposition to their pursuits.  This opposition has included demands that they cease and desist with their plans, threats to withdrawal their financial support, calling them “lazy” and “beggars” because they will have to raise their salaries, shaming them for turning their parents’ payment of their college education into a “bad investment,” etc.  

As Jesus experienced and prophesied, those closest to us, who know us the best, will often be the ones who oppose our faith the most.  As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.  Our family and those we grew up with know us.  As they did Jesus, they interpret our expressions of faith as somehow being arrogant and “holier than thou.” Or, they just think we’ve gone over the edge.  And they refuse to support us.

But, as did Jesus, we still must carry on and do that to which we’ve been called.  And, as it happened with my mom, that faithfulness can often lead others who once opposed us to change their minds.  They see the commitment and they see the fruit that comes from being obedient to the Lord.  

So, today, if you are getting opposition from those closest to you, know you are not alone in that.  Even Jesus faced opposition from those in His hometown.  Yet, He did not quit or tone it down.  He continued to pursue and carry out the will of His Father.  And, indeed, so should you. 

© Jim Musser 2016