If any one of us four children wanted to ride with dad to the store, he would take us with him. One sunny afternoon he asked me if I would like to go with him. I hesitated because I wanted to keep playing. I finally said no. He was not out the door more than a minute when I changed my mind. I quickly ran after him, arriving at the carport just in time to see him pulling down the driveway. I ran after him calling out, "daddy, daddy". But of course he could not hear me and drove away.
All these years later I can still see the car pulling away. As illogical as it was, I felt rejected.
That emotion is something we never forget. Jesus warned us, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, the world hates you" (John 15:18).
We should not be surprised if unbelievers don't invite us to be a part of their group. Their works is based on different values which may make them uncomfortable around us.
