11032021 – John 8. 31-36
How TO STOP “the church gossip!”
Mildred, the church gossip and self-appointed MONITOR of the church’s MORALS, kept sticking her nose – into other people’s business. Heck, Mildred stuck her nose in EVERYBODY’S business.
Several members DID NOT APPROVE of her activities but FEARED HER enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused Frank, (a new member of the church) of being a drunk, when she saw his “old pickup” parked in front of the town’s ONLY BAR one afternoon.
She emphatically told Frank (and anyone else that would listen) that EVERYONE seeing it THERE knew exactly WHAT he was doing!
Frank being a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He DID NOT explain, DEFEND, or DENY. He said NOTHING.
Later that evening, Frank quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred’s house … and walked home … and left it there ALL NIGHT LONG.
DENIAL, they tell me is a “defense mechanism” in which an INDIVIDUAL or a GROUP refuses to “recognize or to acknowledge” objective “facts or experiences.”
Refuses to “recognize or acknowledge objective facts or experiences…” Refuses…interesting…Hmmmm…
I would never be IN DENIAL, would I? Of course not, neither would you? Right? WE ARE UPSTANDING PEOPLE!
It is “an unconscious process” that serves to “PROTECT the person” from “discomfort or anxiety.”
For example, a LOVED ONE may INSIST that she or he doesn’t have a problem with ALCOHOL, despite the fact that it CONSTANTLY interferes with WORK and FAMILY LIFE.
That would be DENIAL.
We deny the loss of loved ones, simply because it hurts too much. Therefore, it can’t be true!
Or a loyal employee may REFUSE TO SEE signs that his boss is stealing from the company. Even though THOSE SIGNS are EVERYWHERE even right in front of their faces…
Sometimes, we “IGNORE” what is…
It is EASIER that way. Maybe even SAFER. (Or, so we tell ourselves.)
We fool ourselves. We fool those around us. We attempt to fool others, too.
No one likes to be anxious. No one likes to worry. Especially if it is unnecessary.
No one likes to be overly concerned. So, the tendency is to avoid bad stuff altogether, like it does not exist. We reject the possibility, the thought, the idea…the notion.
We discard it, deny it, and it is GONE! Lord KNOWS, there is always so much to be anxious about! It can feel like OVERLOAD!
So, is rejecting reality a good thing…or a bad thing? What do you think? And from what I have read, it is often an “unconscious act,” so we are not even aware that we are doing it!
How do you reject WHAT IS? BUT I guess we reject (WHAT IS) it all the time…
Oh, it ain’t going to rain, today! Those clouds off in the west mean absolutely nothing…
You watch it is going to be THE PERFECT DAY outside, count on it!
Did you hear about “the cowboys” who DENIED robbing the glue factory?
They’re STICKING to their guns. I just had to throw that one in there…
So, the Jews who HAD believed in Jesus were in denial.
HAD believed. Isn’t that like past perfect tense? I am asking for a friend. They HAD believed in him.
If you do not like what someone is saying. Just say it ain’t so. Say its hog wash. Deny it. Don’t accept it. Walk-away. And apparently that was what some of the followers of Jesus were doing. They did not like the things that he was saying. They did not like his words. Sometimes, the truth hurts.
But not if you don’t believe it.
Not if you walk away.
Not if you are in denial. And, I am sure, Jesus grieved their leaving. The truth CANNOT set you free if you deny what the truth is.
THEY SAY that Dad jokes are a thing. You can deny it, all you want.
My neighbor DENIES throwing a cinder block through my front window,
But I have concrete evidence.
My friend was arrested by the cops for spray painting graffiti, and he tried to DENY that he did it.
But the writing was on the wall. And one last one!
My friend DENIED that he was a ghost, but I knew he was lying.
I could see right through him. I’m done.