Galatians 5:7 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?

As a young child I loved to run. I ran everywhere with joy and without effort. I also ran without purpose, the act of running was enough to make me feel great. I had no consideration for anyone else and I needed no one else to enjoy running.

Running in the spirit without purpose is a waste of energy. It is a waste of time and helps no one, not even Christ. I have to admit here that my youth in Christ was spent alone. It took me some time to recognize I needed to be in fellowship.

I had already separated myself from those old friends who only wanted to drag me back into bad habits. It was like someone in AA no longer going to bars. It just wasn’t a good idea. I had not yet sought new friends, nor did I understand the need for fellowship.

Even after I began attending a church, I didn’t feel like I fit in with their fellowship. I was the new kid in school, a stranger among lifelong friends. It felt much like my childhood school days. Here to learn but not secure in any relationship.

The church I attended was one of the charismatics. I didn’t know what that meant. For all I knew this was the only way to worship. I had not developed any spiritual discernment and all the judgments I made there were in the flesh. My previous bad experiences led me to see things in ways that never worked well for me outside of church. They led me nowhere in the church.

I found myself running without purpose within the confines of a new field, still aimless and still alone. This was my selfish education phase. I was there for me, not for them.

Galatians 4:13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first.

As we grow in Christ, what is the next step after toddler? I suspect the playground might be a good focal point. Mother or father might take you to the playground with a mind to burn off some of that exuberant energy and provide a safe place to play. Being an older Christian we have already experienced play things, perhaps to our own hurt. What might we learn?

You already have a set of playmates in place. Some of them might well be family members. As with all things new, you will naturally want to share good news with those in your life. This means a certain amount of confession which will make those you know best uncomfortable. Why? It is because those things which you played with before and have turned away from, they still play with them. In this moment you place yourself in danger of rejection.

My first attempt at witnessing was to my older brother whom I loved. I was not wise enough to understand my own family dynamics and soon discovered my brother held a deep seeded resentment towards me. It surfaced suddenly and painfully when I told him I was a Christian. The vile contempt he displayed to me was the most painful rejection I have ever endured and in some ways I still suffer from it.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

This perhaps is the most difficult and painful lesson of the playground. It is Christ they reject and not you.

Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

It is hard not to take rejection personally.