When I was a kid, I called “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” the “Halitosis Hymn.” Why, you ask? Because the lyrics, “Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?” reminded me of ads for mouthwash I found in the 1950s issues of Good Housekeeping lying around our lake cottage. They painted dire pictures of opprobrium and social isolation facing those with bad breath, with copy like, “Is halitosis keeping your friends away?” Hearing similar sentiments in that hymn made me giggle.
Jesus seemed to imply that we’re doing something wrong if people do like and approve of us:
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets...
“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."
Since Jesus was often was the subject of adoring crowds, I'd like to think he was exaggerating a little, lest his new disciples become too attached to the adulation. He knew that living out the mission God had given him would result in friends turning away, and crowds turning into mobs. He knew that the approval of humans can be shallow and fickle, and no foundation on which to rest our self-worth.
As a person who thrives on the three A’s – attention, acceptance and affirmation – I know this syndrome all too well. And those who offer themselves as public servants of God need to walk an even finer tightrope between doing and saying that which would make us popular, or being so "true to ourselves" we end up being simply disagreeable.
If the Gospel is truly being preached, and the Realm of God fully proclaimed, it’s going to make somebody mad. Often very powerful somebodies. Jesus was about a profoundly counter-cultural movement. The ways of the world are not the ways of God.
Yet this world is where God is calling us to proclaim his Love. Sometimes when people walk away from us, it’s because our values are incompatible. Sometimes it’s because we’ve been obnoxious. It takes the Spirit’s discernment to show us which is which.
Our call is to be sure that when people revile and exclude us, it’s because we have truly been preaching Christ, and him crucified; and that when they say good things about us, it is because we have been faithful to the witness of Christ and Scripture. I’m going to gratefully receive affirmation when it comes, but not expect it to hold any weight.
The only affirmation that truly counts is that sweet feeling we have of being filled with the Spirit, when we know God has been working through us, and people say they saw Christ in us. That we can rejoice in always.
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