READ: Proverbs 18:19
And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
Mark 8:31
Those who are rejected become those who are offended! Rejection leads to offence. Rejection is a terrible experience that leaves a sore in your heart. Rejection is caused by a feeling of “not really being a part of a group.” Rejection is a feeling of being, somehow, on the outside and looking inside.
1. Rejection can be caused by being part of a three-way fellowship. Anybody who has been part of a three-way friendship soon discovers that two of the three friends are closer, sharing secrets and sometimes ganging up against the one.
2. Rejection can happen when you are a foreigner from another country. This occurs when the majority is from the same country. A foreigner can, therefore, more easily be hurt and develop a root of bitterness.
3. Rejection can happen when you have a different skin colour from the rest of the people. White people often feel rejected when black people are the majority and black people also feel rejected when they are in the minority.
4. Rejection can happen when you are less educated than the rest of the team. A lack of education, the lack of broadness and the lack of depth are things that soon manifest. Less educated people tend to be far more susceptible to feeling rejected than others.
5. Rejection can happen when you come from another tribe when everybody else comes from one particular tribe.
6. Rejection can happen when everyone else is a man and you are the only woman and vice-versa.
7. Rejection can happen when you are in the minority in anything. Minorities are more easily offended than the rest.
In my experience as a leader, people who feel rejected are difficult to please, no matter what you do for them.