Episode 357: I’m Talkin…Ignore

I’m talking episode 357 for February 16th, 2025.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week we’re talking ignore.

So really we’re talking disregard.

And the reason I chose ignore is because that’s what the definition of disregard is.

And the other reason I chose the word ignore is because I’m trying not to, over the course of this microcast, duplicate any words that I’ve talked about.

And apparently 130 some episodes ago, I did the word disregard.

I didn’t go back and listen, but really this is disregard and you’ll understand why in a minute.

So ignore or disregard is a, it’s a familiar phrase.

We probably use the word ignore more than disregard, but the idea is to put something out of mind, to not let it affect you.

And in the world, we think of it as a couple of different ways where we might, might disregard people and that may not be a good thing, or we may disregard events or ideas or circumstances, which may be a better way to go about using the word, or at least putting the word into practice.

But it can also be tough because it means you have to have a tough skin, or you have to be willing to not take things so personally.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

So the reason that I use the word disregard, it comes again from Hebrews 12 verses one and two, which says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off the weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with the, with endurance, the race God has placed before us.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith because of the joy awaiting him endured the cross, disregarding it’s shame.

Now he sits in the place of honor next to God’s throne.

So last time, last week, we talked about endurance and you see that in there a couple times.

And then this time it says that he endured the cross disregarding it’s shame.

So what does that mean?

It’s really interesting that the word disregard is not pointed to the people who put Jesus on the cross.

It’s not pointed to the trial that he went through as fake as it was, as made up as it was that ended up with his crucifixion because he gave his life.

But he’s talking about the event and what does it mean to disregard the shame of the cross?

Well, from what I understand of history and I’m not a history buff and what I’ve learned in my time in church and as a Christian is that dying on a cross was a shame filled event.

It was for the kind of the worst of the worst as far as criminals go.

And it, it was a deterrent to others because it was very public.

And so there was a shame in it in that if you were dying on a cross, you were super guilty of something.

And, and so the way people looked at you, the way people thought about you was very different, not only the pain that you had to go through, but the stigmatism that came from death on a cross.

So how do we disregard those things that happened to us because we’re Christians?

Well, the verse also tells us how to do that.

We keep our eyes on Jesus.

That’s one way to do it.

It’s also part of how we endure in life, but it’s also because of the result, which you see in the verse that says, because of the joy awaiting him, and then it says, now he is seated in the place of honor next to God’s throne.

Well, we have that same joy, that same thing to look forward to, not necessarily seated at the right hand of God, but in the presence of God himself, in the presence of Jesus for eternity and the joy we will experience will so far outweigh any shame that we get from being persecuted as Christians, that we have the power within us because of the Holy Spirit to ignore or disregard people’s attacks against us.

Again, not the people because we need to reach them for Jesus Christ, but the event, the idea, the persecution we can disregard because of Jesus, our champion.

Until next week, this is Joel from The I’m Talking Microcast.