Facing Opposition

I had a former boss who was great at spontaneous accountability. This may be a new term to you, but trust me if you have ever faced this, it is not fun. Let me explain. I would work for days, and my boss would tell me I was a great guy. I was a rock star, actually. I would feel great, and everything seemed to be going well. Then he would come in and raise some issue that I had no clue that I did anything wrong. He would bring me into the office and then go off. This was so hard for me to handle. Since I love people, displeasing them is tremendously tough for me. I would spend hours trying to figure out how to respond to my boss. I have better ideas of how to handle situations like that now, but at the time it was challenging.

No matter how it happens, we all face opposition. Sometimes it comes from our enemies, but generally it is from people with whom we are in daily or weekly contact. The challenge is that when that opposition occurs, how do we handle it? Do we respond with anger? Do we walk away? Do we stare it in the face and deal with the conflict before us? What does Jesus want us to do?

In college I worked for a woman as her administrative assistant. Some of you might be laughing right now. It’s ok! Go ahead. It definitely wasn’t my best fit. Every day it seemed like I discovered something I missed for her. It was a tough first year listening to her critique me, but we made it through. Another friend of mine felt the same pressure, and he decided to leave, but I stuck it out. I was diligent in the fact that I wanted to get to know her, and to figure out how to best handle this situation. After four years of working together, we found jobs that fit me best, and we also started to become friends.  I would write long blog type emails joking about the guy jobs I had for the day. Let me tell you, I brought this quiet computer world to life. I would even joke with my boss that I would sign all the Christmas cards. She would gracefully decline-- considering my handwriting. I learned a lot about opposition in those four years, and about dealing with it diligently.

This week we discuss what it means to face challenging situations. How do we care for others and still respond in the best possible way? Jesus teaches us in His Gospel how He stared His opposition in the face, even though these were people from His hometown. Jesus dealt with it in a unique way, by walking away. Since opposition comes in different forms to all of us, it is good to address it, and then move forward. It is also great to observe how our Savior was able to display love to those who hated Him.