I.
Read Psalm 23
a.
We are going to
work through this Psalm as a guide for us on how to survive and thrive in the
middle.
b.
That is, how to
hold onto your faith in God and live in a way that changes you and your world
for the better.
II.
Illus: Twinkie
Story
III.
Bullying
a.
Bullying means
something completely different now than when I was growing up. To me, when I heard the word bullying I would
think of the kid that beat kids up, or stole from them.
i.
Calling someone a
name was common, as it is now. Picking
on them or ostracizing them was common as well.
Rumors were spread and people were left out. But those weren’t what we were calling
bullying, it was just how it was. You
had to either push back or just ignore it.
ii.
So when I was
being picked on for my weight or because of being poor, or a myriad of other
reasons I would have never considered it being bullied. I just thought of it as being made fun of,
which happened to everyone from time to time.
b.
The government
sees it a different way and they think of it as such a big issue now that they
have created a website to help deal with it: Bullying.gov.
i.
On that site they
define bullying as a behavior (words or actions, in person or online or on the
phone) that is aggressive and includes: An
Imbalance of Power: such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information,
or popularity—to control or harm others. And repetition: Bullying behaviors
happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.
c.
But the truth is,
it doesn’t matter how we define it, bullying happens and it drives people to
depression and even suicide. It can also
cause us to not hold onto our faith. Christians
get bullied for what they believe and how they act as well. And many have been pushed and pushed until
they finally give up and stop following Christ.
i.
Illus: Rona’s
family pushing her to drink
d.
So in order for
us to survive and thrive in the middle we need to figure out how to survive
being bullied.
IV.
The Government’s
Solutions
a.
Help kid’s
understand what bullying is. Will that
help you survive bullying?
b.
Encourage kids to
report bullying to an adult. Will that
help you survive bullying?
c.
Encourage kids to
do what they love because it builds confidence.
Will that help you survive bullying?
d.
Show kids how to
be kind and respectful. Will that help
you survive bullying?
e.
Tell kids to use
humor or to confidently say, “Stop”.
Will that help you survive bullying?
V.
Read Psalm 23:5 –
“You prepare a table before me in the presences of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows.”
a.
You walk into a
party and it is filled with people and the instant you walk in everything
stops, the music, the people. And then
pretty soon you figure out why, it is a party filled with every person that
picks on you and dislikes you.
b.
You immediately
want to leave, it looks like a great party, lots of food and mt. dew, but you
don’t want to be picked on all night, so you decide it is time to go.
c.
Then all of a
sudden the person who invited you to the party steps out, it is someone who
knows you better than anyone else, someone who everyone else looks up to, and
they come up and are excited to see you, greet you, and invite you to come in,
because they part is for you. They then
tell everyone all about the great things about you. Will this stop the people at the party from
making fun of you or picking on you? No,
but will it matter all that much if the person who knows you best says all
those things aren’t true?
d.
That is what this
verse basically says, God knows you better than anyone and thus his view
matters the most. And just because you
might be surrounded by enemies doesn’t mean that the things they say are
accurate or even important.
VI.
Johari Window – Have tables fill out Johari window papers
a.
Was developed in
the 1950’s by two men who wanted to help people understand how they see
themselves and how others see them.
b.
You choose from a
large list of adjectives and then others do the same for you
c.
They then place
the adjectives into 4 spots:
i.
Open/Arena – You
and others see you that way
ii.
Hidden/Façade –
You see them but others do not see you that way
iii.
Blind Spot –
Others see you that way, but you do not
iv.
Unknown – You and
others don’t see you that way. Either
means you aren’t that way or that there is collective ignorance of those traits
VII.
Application
a.
The thing is that
it doesn’t matter what you think about yourself, or what others think about
you. This is the key to surviving being
bullied…it only matters what God thinks about you, because he knows you
perfectly.
b.
Your leaders have
something in their folder, a paper that talks about what it is that God says
about you in his word. I hope this will
be an encouragement to you the next time you are picked on, made fun of, or
bullied.
c.
Learn what he has
to say about you and start viewing yourself in the same way.
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