The other captain and I flipped a coin to see who would pick first from our seventh-grade classmates to be on each basketball team. We knew whoever lost the coin toss would end up with Dwight, who was totally uncoordinated, could not even dribble much less score baskets, yet he always showed up when any sports teams were being formed. It wasn’t until my senior high school years that I came to really enjoy Dwight’s friendship and his many skills at “non-sports.”
One day I apologized to him for my past attitude toward him and his response still resonates with me these many years later: “Oh, no problem, Denny, I always knew I was no good at sports; I just wanted to be your friend and since we are friends now, all of the rejections were worthwhile.” How did it feel to be picked last every single time? And then to come back for the next game, again last picked!
This blog post reaches the end of the quote we have been focusing on from Robert McGhee’s book, “The Search for Significance” – In Christ I am deeply loved, fully pleasing, totally forgiven, complete, and Accepted. All of the rejections meant nothing to Dwight who could say with pride in high school, I Am Accepted.
Dwight and I never had any theological discussions about salvation and sanctification and God’s will – so I do not know how he would feel about being able to say I Am Accepted because he was “in Christ.” I assume, however, that most people reading this blog do indeed have awareness of how being “in Christ” gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
I could probably present dozens of Biblical passages which will confirm the thesis In Christ I Am Accepted. But only one will suffice nicely and powerfully: “Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you, so that God will be given glory” (Romans 15:7 NLT). I love how The Message handled this verse: “So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!”
The pain and shame of not being accepted, and of not being accepting, fuel the offices of psychologists and therapists with a burgeoning clientele. And why does the human condition of non-acceptance overwhelm our society? So many reasons not to say with confidence I Am Accepted: your parents or caregivers did not make you feel accepted; you have suffered trauma which affects the way you see yourself; your past floods you with feelings of guilt; or perhaps you have been taught to see yourself as inferior due to your gender, race, or some other aspect of your personality.
Is there any chance that today you are feeling less than “accepted”? Is there someone in your life who is sick with the anguish of feeling unaccepted? “In Christ” is the key and apart from a deep faith in God’s acceptance through our faith in Christ, all attempts at finding human acceptance are ultimately failures leading to more pain, suffering, and an absence of a real purpose for our being and a real meaning to our existence. So, with joy and encouragement I encourage all of us to thank God daily for our being able to shout to the heavens, “In Christ I Am Accepted.”
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The Merton Prayer 