What If You Face Rejection When Sharing the Gospel?

In a recent Messerly Ministry Partners newsletter, we answered a question that comes up often when talking about sharing the gospel:

“What if you face rejection when sharing the gospel?”

It was a short response in the newsletter, but it is a question worth spending more time on.

Especially because this week, we experienced one of the sharpest rejections we have faced in the harvest in the past year and five months.

And it reminded me why this question matters.

WE ARE OFTEN ASKED: “WHAT IF YOU FACE REJECTION WHEN SHARING THE GOSPEL?”

It’s not a matter of if, but when.

Facing rejection is a normal part of the process.

Does that make it any easier?

No.

Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:16 that when people reject the message His followers bring, ultimately, they are rejecting Him.

That is important to remember.

They aren’t rejecting you. They are rejecting Jesus.

That does not mean rejection will never hurt.

Sometimes it does.

This One Stung

This week, we had an opportunity to take a new disciple out into the harvest.

When we are discipling someone, we do not just want to tell them that they should share the gospel. We want to model it for them.

So we went out into our neighborhood and modeled sharing the 15 Second Testimony and Three Circles.

During that time, we approached someone I had gone to school with.

What happened next was probably the sharpest rejection we have experienced in the harvest in the past year and five months.

She wanted absolutely nothing to do with God.

She made it very clear that she did not want me to share with her again.

And I would be lying if I said it did not sting.

It did.

I knew this person.

I went to school with her.

For the next few hours, that encounter bothered me.

But eventually, I gave it to the Lord.

And as I did, something changed.

The rejection stopped being so much about how I felt, and my heart began to break for her instead.

Because she ultimately had not rejected me.

She wanted nothing to do with God.

That is much heavier than someone simply telling me no.

Then Came Joy

Something else happened later.

Joy came.

Not because I enjoyed being rejected.

Not because the conversation had gone the way I wanted it to.

And certainly not because I was happy about where she stood with God.

Joy came because I had been found faithful and obedient.

I could not control her response.

I could not make her receive the gospel.

I could not change her heart.

That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

My responsibility was to go, love, share, and obey.

And I had done that.

Success in the Great Commission is not measured by how many people say yes. Success is measured by joyful obedience to Jesus.

We can actually find joy in the middle of rejection.

The Disciple Was Watching

There was another side to this encounter that I do not want to miss.

The person we were modeling gospel sharing for saw the whole thing.

And he was taken back by it.

The rejection was sharp.

This was not the kind of encounter that makes someone immediately think, I cannot wait to go do that.

But afterward, we talked through what had happened.

We explained that rejection is part of going into the harvest.

Some people will listen.

Some will want to hear more.

Some will put their faith in Jesus.

And some will want absolutely nothing to do with what you are sharing.

Our responsibility does not change based on their response.

We remain faithful.

We remain loving.

And we keep going.

After we talked through it, something happened that I loved seeing:

He was excited to get back into the action.

The rejection had not taken him out of the harvest.

Instead, he was learning one of the lessons every disciple who makes disciples eventually has to learn:

The results are not up to us.

We step out in faith.

We share Jesus.

We trust the Holy Spirit with what happens next.

Keep Going

Maybe you have shared the gospel with someone and they shut you down.

Maybe someone laughed.

Maybe they walked away.

Maybe it was someone you knew, and what they said stuck with you long after the conversation ended.

Take it to the Lord.

Let Him deal with the hurt.

Let your heart break for the person instead of becoming bitter toward them.

And then get back into the harvest.

Rejection does not mean you failed.

A person's response does not determine whether your obedience mattered.

Faithfulness is never wasted.

So keep praying.

Keep loving people.

Keep sharing Jesus.

Keep going.

Who have you shared Jesus with this week?