Has the World Rejected God?

If one looks at what is going on in the world today, it is reasonable to ask the question, “has the world rejected Jesus?”

We see this in the way many people embrace LGBT+ ideology even though it is in contradiction to our faith and biblically based morality that flows from the Sixth Commandment, thou shall not commit adultery (see my papers “Towards Dignity and Truth: Compassionate Dialogue on Homosexuality” and Towards Dignity and Truth: Compassionate Dialogue and Pastoral Response on Transgenderism to learn the basis for our Catholic beliefs on homosexuality and transgenderism). 

We can also see the rejection of Jesus in the way the world rejects that life begins at conception and ends in natural death.  There are people who fail to see how ending life in the womb and causing death at the end of life violate the Fifth Commandment, thou shall not kill (You can find a list of my pro-life material on my website at https://renewaloffaith.org/catholic-morality-and-sexuality/. Please scroll down to the pro-life section).

The world has rejected our Lord’s teaching.  Did it mean to?

There are some people who reject the very idea that there is a God.  They choose to be atheists.  Some even seem to desire to reject the existence of God.

Other people may not seek atheism but they fall into it, or at least agnosticism.  Sometimes this happens because we have not done a good job of teaching our faith.  We fall short in helping them see the way God created and continues to be involved in our lives.

Meanwhile others may not reject the idea that there is a God.  They want to believe that there is a heaven because they want to spend eternity there.  However, they want to live their lives their way.  I think of the Frank Sinatra song, “My Way.”  I just read in a Google search that Sinatra came to not like the song because the song became self-indulgent and self-serving.  I’m glad to hear that because while God allows us to our lives our own way, it is not what He intends.  He sends Jesus to us as the way and the truth and the life (see John 14:6).  When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we do not pray my will be done.  We pray thy will be done, seeking God’s Will.  Well, at least it was God’s Will that Jesus was referring to when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

Unfortunately, rejecting God is nothing new.  In Leviticus 26:1-13, God tells the Israelites what He will do if they follow his commandments.  Then, in Leviticus 26:14-46, God tells the Israelites what the consequences will be if they reject his commandments.  One would think this would convince people not toreject his commandments.  Here lies the challenge.  I don’t think that most people freely and deliberately reject God’s commandments.  Yes, they don’t commit themselves to his teachings but often it starts with the weakness of human flesh.  As Jesus says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  Our physical bodies seek physical pleasure.  Unfortunately, we allow our human desires to take over, leading many on a slippery slope that may lead to partial or complete rejection of God.

Psalm 44 is an example where we can how the people thought they had kept God’s commandments but did not.  They thought God had rejected them when it was them who first rejected him.  The same is true today.

God sent the Israelites prophets to point out their sins.  They did not listen.  For instance, in 2 Kings 17:13-24, God gives the Israelites a chance to repent but they do not.  In verse 15 we read, “They rejected his statutes, the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and the warnings he had given them. They followed emptiness and became empty; they followed the surrounding nations whom the Lord had commanded them not to imitate.”  Seeing their sin, in verses 18-20, we read, “The Lord became enraged, and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left.  Even the people of Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord, their God, but followed the rites practiced by Israel.  So the Lord rejected the entire people of Israel: he afflicted them and delivered them over to plunderers, finally casting them from his presence.”

We see people today who reject God’s teaching and yet think they can still enter Heaven (see my article, “Proof That Hell Exists”).  They speak in terms of “tolerance.”  It is hard for me to believe that things have gotten so bad that some people think they can do whatever they want and still get into Heaven but that seems to be where we are at.  It seems to me that what they want is a world where there is no consequences for their actions.

God is within his rights to carry out when He speaks of in Jeremiah 6:19 – “See, I bring evil upon this people, the fruit of their own schemes, Because they did not pay attention to my words, because they rejected my law.”

God is within his rights to reject sinners but He would rather forgive us if we realize our sins and repent.

Jesus himself was rejected by the some of the people who were waiting for a Messiah.  He was rejected by people in his native place (see Mark 6:1-6). 

God knew that not everyone would accept Jesus but He sent his only Son to die for us anyway. 

Jesus knew what was coming in his Passion.  He knew who would reject him.  “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days” (Mark 8:31) yet He freely accepted his Passion.

He knew his disciples would be rejected by some before they were rejected.  Before He sent them out, He said, “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16).  When we speak of Jesus today, we may feel rejected but, if we hold to Jesus’ Truth, it is not us they reject but Jesus.

If people are rejecting Jesus, is there any hope?  Yes, because nothing is impossible for God.

Each person is free to make their own choice.  All we can do, all God asks of us is to speak the truth to them and warn them of their sins (see Ezekiel 3:17-21) and to make Jesus the foundation of our own lives. 

Listen to these words of Jesus, “Did you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes’?” (Matthew 21:42).  He used these words from  Psalm 118:22-23.

Do you choose to reject Jesus or do you make him the cornerstone of your whole life?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff