Research has shown that rejection is the root cause of a lot of depression, anxiety and many other mental health challenges. Prolonged rejection and social isolation often results in low self-esteem which is a precursor to drug addiction, violence and other social ills. When we examine the prevalence and the consequences of rejection like this, it becomes very clear that the Church needs to give people tools to deal with it. Firstly, we must not be the perpetrators and secondly we need to know how to process it when it comes. Some people have become mature in how they deal with rejection whilst others have very low emotional intelligence in how they process it. It’s important to note that we all have different levels of need for inclusion. Instruments like FIRO-B actually measure such levels and help us to be gracious towards those that have this need more deeply ingrained in their personality than we do. I am a big includer but have a very low need for inclusion. The result is that I tend to process rejection and exclusion positively whilst someone else can be stung by similar events. As we do this study we will examine various faces of rejection, such as betrayal, abandonment, neglect, disapproval, exclusion and disregard in everyday life. It’s important for us to also examine the traits that develop in many people as a result of rejection experiences. Some develop a mental stronghold that causes them to reject themselves before they can be rejected. This person becomes socially isolated and detached. Others struggle with a persecutory super ego (intense feelings of guilt, shame, and self-blame for trivial things), where they are self-critical and obsessed with the misbelief that the whole world is against them. If this persists, one can become oppressed by a lying spirit of rejection. We will discuss this in the course of this series. Some become vulnerable narcissists who are fixated and obsessed with the number of imaginary enemies they have. The point is that the way we process rejection affects our levels of Christlikeness and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. This series seeks to help believers develop a robust theology of rejection, and life skills to process it when it occurs.
