The Plumbline

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19-22) If you have ever been somewhere in the midst of a crowd of people but find yourself feeling very 'alone' even in the midst of the crowd, you are not alone. There are times when we feel like strangers even among those we know pretty well. You might call it an 'emotional funk' or even an 'odd feeling', but whatever you call it, you don't feel like you 'belong' at that moment. Now, imagine living life like that all the time. Wouldn't that be horrible to go through life feeling like y...

You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (I Peter 2:4-5) We all experience some form of rejection on occasion, so lest we think we are enduring the worst rejection possible, let us not forget the extreme rejection Jesus endured. A life lived well will be subject to some form of criticism and even rejection - the ones doing the criticizing just cannot live with their own choices in the face of the ones we have made, so they ridicule and reject us. It isn't a bad thing when they reject us because it actually shows we are living in such a way that they are convicted just by the example we set. Rejected by people but chosen by God. We might admit that being rejected by others is kind of ha...