Standing there with hot tears running down my face, I ignore the well meaning advice of those who haven’t had an ingrown toenail, let alone slipped their Cinderella foot into my stinky shoe.
These people like Job’s comforters are well meaning but you have to ignore them if it isn’t counsel from above.
Before you throw me under the bus and see me as being insensitive, politically incorrect or a mean spirited person consider this….. Jesus ignored people.
He did it all the time, because He had a higher purpose behind it. He developed the skill of knowing what needed his immediate attention, what needed to be dismissed, and what needed ignoring.
A Glimpse Into the Life of Jesus
When you look at scripture you get a glimpse of who He ignored and the situations He seemed to dismiss.
The why behind the circumstance isn’t always obvious.
Before we get into the people He ignored, let’s talk about why He ignored them.
Why did Jesus ignore people?
He ignored them because they interfered with His mission. Hang in there. I will explain.
At times He ignored people because they put off a negative vibe and they were filled with doubt and unbelief.
He recognized that He needed to ignore the casual observer. They didn’t
want real change, they were just observing.
He knew some would never understand him.
He wasn’t there to scratch the itch of a crowd or a casual observer. He wasn’t interested in ‘getting on their page.’ He was calling them to get on HIS page.
It’s All About The Kingdom
This was all about the kingdom for Jesus. He knew if they got on his page, the kingdom would come and everything they needed would be answered for them.
People who don’t have a purpose often get preoccupied with the purpose of others and what they are doing.
Being judged is hard when others misunderstand or misinterpret your decisions. People are judgmental so ridding yourself of needing their approval is healthy and preserves your soul.
Jesus knew who He was and where He was going. His approval came from the Father.
He knew the same people praising his name one day would be the ones shouting “Crucify him” the next.
People often judged based on what they don’t understand or what they would do. Be confident in your choices and don’t shrink back into needing the approval of others when you have the approval of God..
When you have direction about what to do, let the peace of God lead you.
Here are the three types of people you might need to ignore
in order to stay on the path you are on.
#1 Pharisee’s
Knowing The Bible Is One Thing Knowing The Author Is Another.
Toby Mac
Jesus ignored the Pharisees on a regular basis or they would have been a constant distraction and contradiction to what He was supposed to be doing.
Why in the world would you tell me to ignore religious people? I thought they were the teachers of the law and could help me.
Jesus came to establish a relationship with the Father not a religion. Religious people will always try to bind you with burdens that you were never intended to bear.
They can’t bring the kingdom to you because they are too busy being preoccupied with every ‘jot and tittle’ of the law. [Matthew 5:18]
They can’t bring you liberty because they are enslaved to the law of a system that wasn’t intended to bring freedom, only a relationship with God can do that.
Whomever the son sets free is the one that is free indeed. [John 8:36]
What or who is pulling on your attention to get a reaction out of you?
Religious people love to point out where you have missed the mark. How improving your behavior by rule following and keeping 613 laws from the Old Testament can make you righteous.
No amount of rule keeping and legalism can save us, Jesus swallowed it up at the cross.
How do we respond to religious people?
With gracious words, yet redirecting all our attention and affection to Jesus.
He pleads with us to believe him. That’s it. By loving him with all our heart, mind and soul and loving your neighbor as yourself belief is demonstrated. Boom. Done. No performance needed.
Embrace grace. Work out your salvation and your foolishness will be skimmed off while loving him and those that surround you.
It’s a sweat-less work of resting in what He has done for us at the cross.
What About Brokenness?
In theory it sounds easy, but what happens when my brokenness clashes with his holiness as I am believing him?
Brokenness and areas of our lives where interior renovating is happening can be painful and gut wrenching. It’s messy. The processing of life and God working in you can look daunting!
It may be in your marriage, your job or your kids.
Religious people love to chime in sharing their advice. Condemning or criticizing you with religion.
They seem to always have the answer for the reason why something happened or whatever it is your dealing with.
Let’s Look At A Broken Woman In John 8.
After being paraded publicly by religious people to embarrass her, Jesus enters into the scenario. Even if you don’t sense or feel God close when you’re broken, He is there.
This was her story.
Jesus ignored the accusers of a woman. He addresses the woman in John chapter 9 giving her His attention, not giving the accusations and the exposing of her sin the attention. When the time was right and with the right words He spoke to her deep brokenness that led her to sin.
Jesus used wisdom and covered the sin and shame they slung at her publicly.
Deep conviction set in as each one dropped their stones and walked away. Some people’s sin is obvious others are hidden. Jesus revealed the truth about how judgmental they were.
I often wonder as they dropped their stones if Jesus was writing in the dirt what their own sins happen to be.. That would cause you to drop a rock or two.
Pharisees love exposing people’s sin. Every rung on the ladder of their self righteousness only shows how far they are from the love of God and understanding the kingdom.
He privately talked with the woman caught in the act of adultery. He did not publicly parade her.
Her sin was the result of something much deeper going on in her life. Jesus lovingly knows how to address destructive issues that lead us to . He does this without destroying us with a method.
Jesus took sin out of the way and deals with our internal condition of brokenness. Then work of the Holy Spirit starts to work.
Religious people look at externals and tell you how you got there.
As they attempt to fix you, they cut you with scripture while condemning you for your sinful behavior. They remind you how you brought it onto yourself.
Sizing you up with the behavior that got you broken. Ignoring your brokenness, they zero in on your law breaking.
They brow beat you with the commandments. They tell you how behavior modification based on the merit system will purge your sin.
This is the system under the old covenant. It cannot heal your brokenness. It only expose it.
The law is the tutor, written on stone. Meant to point you towards life. But it never can give you life. Only grace can do that.
The law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus. [John 1:17]
You have an audience of one. I know others are watching things you have walked through and even watched a slow train wreck in your life, but strength is rising because God is with you.
Out of the ashes God is constructing something fresh and new. Let His promise and what He says to you shape your future. Not what religious people say about you.
They mean well. They do. These believers are packed tight with bible knowledge, often at church every time the door is open.
They pray loud and long. They have the fish bumper sticker to prove they are holy. Quoting scripture so fast a theologian would raise an eyebrow..
When you’re around them you don’t smell a sweet fragrance and feel embraced, you kind of feel, well, dirty and sized up. Beat up with scripture.
Looking down upon you from their spiritual perch, you start to feel yourself shrink. Religion does this. Beats you up in your circumstance instead of lifting you up with hope.
If they did this to Jesus, they will do it to you. Religious people aren’t real or authentic. They are rigid with rules and rituals.
With their ‘armed and dangerous’ method, they have forgotten what it feels like to be broken. To be spent and shredded.
Ignoring Religious People Will Help You Move Forward
Ignoring religious people will help you move ahead. If you see them from the right perspective and not as some authority on Christianity.
You have full access to the Father, no person stands between you except Jesus. His love bridged the gap for your full access to The Father.
Jesus ignored religious people because they keep you from seeing the truth and understanding the kingdom of God. It’s His kingdom He’s integrating into your life. Not a list of religious rules.
# 2 The Crowd
Faith is like wi-fi. It’s invisible but it has the power to connect you to what you need.
Jesus ignored crowds.
Crowds gather for various reasons. Jesus wants to get to you, not sort through whatever or whoever it is that is crowding you.
He encountered crowds but often walked passed them. Would your faith compel him to come back?
Churches often want to build crowds.
The bigger the crowd, the more lost people are being found, the more depth people are growing spiritually right? Disciples are being made right?
The more the merrier. Our goal is often to reach the masses. Not so much with Jesus.
If You Were Alive During Jesus’ Life
You would have found him climbing in a boat, telling his disciples He was going to the other side away from the crowd. He would often leave the crowd to find one person.
You would also find him going up on top of a mountain to pray alone on a regular basis. Sometimes, He prayed all night.
The Crowd is a Herd
Crowds follow trends and culture. No faith is needed. Juxtapose that with Jesus. He avoided crowds and trends. He followed The Father, which can only be done by faith.
Crowds follow external signs and wonders. Jesus followed internal markers, intimacy and pleasing the Father’s heart through obedience.
Remember the hidden pictures book, ‘Where’s Waldo?’
Somewhere in a flurry of objects, buildings and forestry there is a person hidden. Waldo. He’s waiting to be found and discovered.
This pretty much sums up our lives. We are crowded out by so much of everything, we feel lost. Overwhelmed.
Over stimulated, but under motivated.
Overfed, but undernourished. Spiritually and physically.
We often crowd out the desire to pursue the thing that could secure our healing and freedom by ignoring it through neglect.
The crowd distracts us. Then we whine about feeling like God has ignored us.
We long for the day that someone will pluck us out of the madness of our overcrowded lives and find us. Rescue Waldo. Rescue us.
Come for Waldo because He has legit needs. We want someone to do it for us. We don’t want to have to exercise our faith or ignore the crowd of whatever it is that’s distracting us from getting free.
Why Crowds Follow Jesus
There were crowds following Jesus because of things they heard. They heard about the miracles, so they followed the movement.
Why did they do this? Pure intrigue. Fascinated by what they had been hearing they thought they would take a peek. Whole towns were being stirred up.
They were curious. Their curiosity wasn’t faith. It was just …curiosity.
Mass crowds often follow movements, yet they don’t know what or who they are following. Jesus was moved with compassion because He saw they were sheep without a shepherd.
Why should you ignore the crowds?
A good example is social media.
Think about it. You’re just scrolling along. After 30 minutes you realize you have wasted your time. Except now you’re discouraged.
You lost focus from your life and purpose because you were focused on someone else’s.
Crowds can distract you and discourage you.
Crowds create a ruckus but not a relationship. Jesus is interested in an individual relationship not a mass of people following him.
Churches can tend to measure growth by numbers of attendance and giving records. But Jesus measures growth by depth of heart, devotion to him and if disciples are being made.
# 3 Needy People
Why in the world would you say to ignore needy people? I thought Jesus came for needy people.
He did. But our NEEDS don’t put a demand on him. our FAITH does.
Jesus ignored needy people. Needs are everywhere. He wants to see activated faith in you, so at times, He delays his response. But Denial doesn’t mean dismissal. Sometimes it means press in. If you don’t get offended you might get insight or complete healing.
As we trust in His love for us, our faith carries us into the grace He has made available.
Grace makes a way but faith takes the way by agreeing with God.
Do You Really Want To Be Healed?
Some people say they want healing, but when they realize God requires an action step from them, they start backing up.
If they are healed they can no longer get attention, or hide behind their issue. They can’t make an excuse for why they can’t do something.
If they’re healed, the government check disappears. If they’re healed emotionally, they have to show up in a relationship.
If they are healed, circumstances change. Healed people serve others. They contribute to relationships and add value to their community.
This doesn’t mean God doesn’t have compassion on us in our condition, but we have a responsibility to respond to what God is doing.
If God just sovereignly healed needs, there would not be a single need in the world. Using the sovereignty of God is a way of shirking the responsibility God has placed on us by giving us His authority.
I know that’s a mic drop statement and I dodge the eggs being whisked at me. God wants something from you. He loves you and wants you to discover what He has entrusted to you.
Psalm 8 says:
The heavens belong unto him and He has given earth unto men. We have been crowned a little lower than angels. with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen- even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the seas.
God wants us to understand the depth of his love, and understand His transferred authority.
He has given to us so that we don’t live as beggarly, needy people being victimized by circumstances in our lives.
We have to do something with our faith or it’s dead in the water and we remain needy people who whine instead of winning in life.
Hebrews 4:15
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do yet He did not sin.
Don’t let someone else’s drama become your emergency.
Creflo Dollar
There will always be needs.
Some people want attention they don’t want a solution. Others don’t care that much, especially if it requires something from them.
Jesus is aware of all types. Are you?
Every person has some type of drama in their family or relationships. It’s the brokenness of humanity.
Make note of those drama queens or kings and avoid them. Not every situation is filled with drama just because it looks dramatic.
Consider the woman with the issue of blood.
This woman had been bleeding for 12 years. [Luke 8:43-48]
In the Jewish culture, blood makes you ceremonially unclean. Therefore, she could not go into the synagogue.
Imagine adding that insult to her issue. Uncontrollable blood for 12 years. And she is banned by the one place that is supposed to give her hope.
Rejected by the church because she was unclean. Nevertheless, she said to herself, “If I can just touch the hem of Jesus garment I shall be made well.”
She ignored her issue of blood as best she could, and pursued healing. She talked to herself.
Why? Because what we say to ourselves is closely followed with what we do next.
Sometimes we need to make the move, not God.
When the crowd pushed her aside, she kept pressing in. Wen she felt ignored and overlooked as Jesus walked by, she reached out. She stretched her faith.
Sometimes people are needy and they have no desire to truly change.
God uses faith as the barometer of someone’s desire. Faith requires a corresponding action.
Will you let your neediness determine what you do or will you let what you need for healing determine your steps?
The direction you take can be directly related to what you believe and say to yourself.
Conclusion
Who is it you might need to ignore in your life? Are they interfering with what God is doing in you?
Are they keeping you worked up emotionally because you don’t see them as a tool the enemy is using to upset you or jerk you around?
What if God Himself is ignoring you to draw out of you faith that moves you to the next level?
There will always be obstacles in your path to deter you or discourage you from pursuing a better life.
If you were to evaluate your life right now, which of these three groups do you need to ignore to make progress?
Recognize what is being used to distract you from the love of God and His best for your life.
It’s Your Turn.
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