I. Introduction
The Scare Factory illustrated in Monsters Inc. is still in full effect. However, rather than harvesting the screams of children to power the city of "Monstropolis", the monsters in this scare factory harvests our peace and our sanity.
Adam and Eve fall in the Garden and believe Satan's lies and in the process, according to Romans 5:12, pass down sin and also their now captured thought processes. So, in the garden not only did we lose relationship, dominion, authority . . . we lost our mind. Jesus shows up determined to restore everything we lost. You will remember that He declares we have a part to play in this path to deliverance and restoration when He says in . . .
Matthew 22:37 (NIV)
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Most of us have allowed Jesus to save our heart/soul but we haven't allowed Him to renew or redeem our mind.
Paul knew this reality and declared in Romans 7:25 we serve the Lord with our mind. So, we understand we can have a new heart and a saved soul and have the same mind.
We wrestle against principalities (principles) and so instantly Adam and Eve begin to think differently than they have previously. My prayer is that since we have been combating these mind monsters you have been fighting week to week and day to day to get your mind submitted to Jesus. His desire is for us to have His mind so that we can live in peace! So, let's go back one more time and deal with a final mind monster that is still on the prowl today.
Genesis 4:1-9 (MEV)
Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had respect for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, He did not have respect. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it.” Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Before we dive in too deep let me point out that it is absolutely essential to deal with your mind monsters because here is the Biblical proof that if you don't, then you pass them down. Adam and Eve fail to combat their mind monsters and "surprise" their children are infected as well. We knew, I referenced this out of Romans 5:12, that our spiritual parents passed down their sins. But let's stop a moment and quit focusing on them and focus on us. It is imperative that we wrestle our mind monsters to the ground and kill them or we too pass things down! I don't know about you, but I want that stuff to stop with me! I refuse to let the mind monsters that have waged war on me to live one more minute because I don't want them to live one second in the minds of my boys and my grandchildren. Do I have any men and women in the house who have yet to have children who will rise up and go to war for the next generation? Do I have any parents and grandparents in the house who will rise up and not only slay their mind monsters but inform and assist the next generations to stop the scream cycle?
I want you to notice something out of the account. Cain responds to his failed sacrifice with anger and offense. It would seem that this would be the mind monster we need to address. Some of you are running around mad at the world. It has been said that this generation is the most offended generation that has ever walked the planet. Someone is always mad at something. Someone is always protesting something. However, we need to remember that anger is a secondary emotion. It isn't a primary emotion. It is the result of a trigger. Something else causes the anger. I believe Cain's story pulls the cover back on a deadly mind monster that too many of us are battling and while it is destroying us, we think we have an anger issue and can't seem to figure out why. Here it is . . .
I believe that in that one moment one of the principles that has been established in our mind is the principle (mind monster) of rejection!
Cain does get angry. However, his anger is a result or a response to his belief that God not only rejected his offering but turned His nose up at him. It is rejection that fuels his anger. It is rejection that caused him to lose his mind and kill his own brother. Out of this response I need to help you identify the operation of this mind monster in your life because he is sneaky. He operates in the shadows behind secondary emotions. Let me help you spot him. You know you this mind monster is in operation because . . .
Rejection will cause you to reject those who are necessary.
Cain kills Abel when Able could have helped him figure it out. Cain kills the one who was accepted and could have helped him find out how to be accepted. Cain kills the one that could have provided him with the sacrifice that was required.
Maybe that doesn't sound significant, but can I tell you that in my role as pastor I never remember a time in over 30 years of leading people when people are so quick to dismiss, walk away from, sabotage, exit and then slander relationships that they needed or may need in the future. I am heartbroken at the number of relationships that were God given to bring assistance, instruction, and even discipline that are thrown on the trash heap as unnecessary. People don't just exit these relationships they burn the bridge behind them. They kill and bury them and then wonder why they can't get the help when they need it. You killed the delivery system. The information you needed was wrapped up in that relationship. The knowledge, the guidance, the mentorship, the spiritual insight was contained in the one you blasted on FB to the point they are now unapproachable. The result is people bouncing from relationship to relationship unable to find what they need because access has been cut off by how they left the role model they needed.
You better deal with the mind monster of rejection or you will reject relationships you need. You will think they are trying to hurt when God sent them to you to help! Yeah, they called your sin "sin". Yeah, they won't let you get by with anything! Yes, they won't let you sluff off. Yes, they are pulling on you. The mind monster of rejection will cause you to think it is personal and offense will grow, and you will destroy the very relationship that was designed for your development.
In fact, I don't even have time to mess with this, but part of the punishment Cain was given for killing Abel was that he would be a restless wanderer the rest of his life. We are seeing the fruit of that today. People are devastated by a wandering spirit. Unsettled. No rest. In one relationship, then another, then another, then another. In one small group, then another, then another. In one church, then another, then another. Looking for what was lost when necessary relationships were buried simply because we allow rejection to take root in our life.
Notice also from the account that Abel’s sacrifice is accepted and Cain's was rejected. Why? Hebrews tell us Abel's gift was offered in faith. What was the difference in the gifts? Many believe God had already given them instructions about what was acceptable. I can conclude that if He told them about the tree, then He would tell them about the sacrifice. However, what I do know this Abel's gift was offered in faith because he couldn't produce the gift. It was out of his hands. He had nothing to do with an animal being born. However, Cain's gift was obtained by the work of his own hand. That doesn't require faith that requires work. Ephesians reminds us that working towards salvation or acceptance never works . . . "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
Why is this important? Quickly let me point out another indicator that the monster of rejection is working behind the shadows.
Rejection often leads to over commitment.
Cain is trying to do something on his own that he wasn't intended to do. Trying to work for acceptance. All you have to do is fast forward to the account of Moses and you see this play out. Remember Moses was an Israelite. When Pharaoh commands all Israelite boy babies to be killed. His mom hides him by floating him in the Nile. The Pharaoh's daughter spots him and adopts him. So now an Israelite is being raised in Pharaoh's house. He doesn't fit in with the Egyptians. One day he sees an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave and he steps in to be the savior. He kills the Egyptian. He risks his own life, his own safety, his own comfort and steps in. However, after he kills the Egyptian. The next day he sees two Israelites fighting and he tries to stop them and they say, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So, he doesn't fit in with the Egyptians and now his own people reject him. And if you know this leads to a life filled with anger. The anger is a secondary response to rejection. He gets angry while holding the Word of God in his hands and breaks the tablets. He gets angry and instead of speaking to a rock he strikes it to produce water and the act of disobedience costs him the opportunity to go into the Promised Land. But it all stemmed from rejection. All of that to remind you that when Moses leads the people out of Egypt and with the unaddressed mind monster of rejection operating in his life the Bible says that "Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening. Now when Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between someone and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.” Moses’ father-in-law then said to him, “The thing that you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone."
One indication that you are fighting the mind monster of rejection is that you will try to do too much. Why? You want to fit in. You want to be accepted. You want to earn a spot in the clique in the club. If you weren't afraid of rejection, then you would say no!
Rejection leads to no connection!
Cain's response "Am I my brother's keeper?" reveals no connection. I am not responsible for anyone else. I am so consumed by my own issue and rejection that I can't watch for anyone else's soul or life. I just have to do me! The end game of our enemy is this. He wants us to conclude that since I have been rejected, I am not going to connect with anyone else. I will just do me. I have railed how many times about this so I will just leave it there. But I can tell you over the years we have watched as people refuse to connect because someone refused to connect with them in the past. Refuse to do the hard work of working to gain entrance out of a fear of rejection. So, they walk away before they can be rejected again. They remain unconnected. So, now you live guarded instead of guided.
So, what must we do to drive out the mind monster of rejection?
Rejection is destroyed by accepting the acceptance of The One that matters.
Notice Cain is told if you would do what is appropriate. If you will do what matters to The One that matters, then you will be accepted by The One that matters. In other words, if you would be consumed by being accepted by The One that matters the rejection of everyone else wouldn't matter.
There is a perfect illustration of this in the New Testament in Luke 7. Jesus is in the house of religious leader named Simon. The Bible says the house was full. Elbow to elbow. Packed out. Then this lady name Mary comes in. You remember Mary, right? The one who had been delivered from 7 demons. The one whom Simon thinks so little of that she causes him to think less of Jesus. This is what Simon thought “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” She is a sinner. He rejects her. But that doesn't stop Mary. She takes perfume and pushes past everyone looking down their nose and gets to Jesus . . . an audience of One . . . The One that matters . . . and anoints His feet. You can destroy rejection when you connect your worth to the right One! Everyone else in the room may despise and reject you. In fact, Jesus warns us that as His disciples that would happen. But if our worth is found in Him - the One who created us just like we are, the One who cares for us, the One who knows us, calls us and loves us then we can destroy and be unaffected by the rejection of those that don't matter. You don't have to be offended. You don't have to be mad. You don't have to fit in. You are already in! Jesus looks at this woman who pushes past the rejection of others and tells her to go in peace! The mind monster had been destroyed.
Rejection is destroyed when you reject rejection!
Pastor you are just trying to be cute. No, Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:11-14 that rejection will happen. But then He gives us the remedy. He says to reject rejection.
And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. As you enter the house, give it your greeting. If the house is worthy, see that your blessing of peace comes upon it. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet.
Jesus is telling us that rejection can be rejected. He tells us how to defeat the mind monster of rejection. He says dust your feet off. In other words, Jesus is trying to teach us to move on. Keep stepping. Brush it off. Jesus knew that if you don't move on the residue will become restrictive. The pain would become a prison. Some of you would be free if you would just move on. You have to release the one who rejected you. When you keep moving you are stating that the one who rejected you doesn't have the final say. Only God has the final say over my life.
When Walter Payton - the Hall of Fame running back was asked why after a hard hit he would always get up and run back to the huddle he said, "I had to make certain that the one who hit me didn't think he hurt me." Jump up after the hits of rejection and keep moving! Learn to take the loss. Not everyone will love you, clap for you, promote you, celebrate you, think well of you, not every job will work out. Our issue is that we only we want to talk about winning as a believer. What if you have a loss? The great thing about being a believer is a I can learn to take a loss without at the same time becoming a loser. Quit begging and pleading for them to love you and accept you. Jesus says pack your stuff up, take the loss and keep moving.
I don't know if you have noticed but there is this newfangled technology in bathrooms now. It can bring confusion. There are no handles to pull on or push. No, now the only way to flush is to . . . walk away. When you walk away. When you keep moving it will flush. Some of you are struggling with rejection and it is triggering all kinds of emotions and reactions simply because you won't walk away from it.
You won't find out the fact that God has more for you, if you get stuck standing in front of what you wanted that didn't want you! You won't find the love that God had for you if you keep standing in front of the one who you wanted that didn't want you. You won't find the job that God has for you if you keep standing in front of the job that you wanted that didn't want you!
Joseph could tell his brothers that sold him into slavery that “what you meant for evil God meant for good because he rejected rejection”. He got over it. He moved on. He brushed off the rejection so that it wouldn't fester and infect. He rejected rejection and realized rejection was God way of positioning him to be a blessing. I heard one preacher say it like this . . . God will break your heart so He can blow your mind. That can't happen if you allow rejection to become a monster in your life! That can't happen if you won't brush off the rejection and get back up.
I am challenging you today. Some of you need to untie yourself from the rejection. You need to brush your feet off. Shake off the hateful words they said. Shake off the attack on your character. Shake off the fact they didn't pick you for the team. Shake off the fact they chose someone less qualified and less gifted. Shake off the fact that they looked at you as less than. Untie your shoes so that you can untie your future and shake those things off and move on and it will flush the mind monster of rejection right out of your life!
