Teflon Coat
One point has always stayed with me.
Reference: But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (Luke 4:30 NIV)
Explore: When I was working as a chaplain, I attended a professional development course to help me deal with conflicts in relationships. It wasn’t that there were a lot of conflicts at the school where I worked, but it touched on the reality that conflict can pop up wherever two people come together.
One point that was explained, all those years ago, has always stayed with me. It was the Teflon Rule.
Teflon is a special coating put on pots and pans to stop food from sticking to the surface. At this course we were told we needed Teflon coating.
Any time someone threw some dirt our way, we needed to remind ourselves we had Teflon coating and we could wipe it away and throw the negativity out.
While this is certainly easier said than done, the idea of us having a thick Teflon coating was a reminder we didn’t have to let words stick. It was actually our choice to respond in such a way that we would either allow someone’s words to sink in or wipe them off and throw them away.
Application: I reckon Jesus had a pretty thick Teflon coat! Sure, I don’t think they had Teflon back in those days, but Jesus was certainly good at moving on from negative situations.
When Jesus spoke in the synagogue in Luke 4, the crowd went from celebration to assassin in just a couple of verses. But Jesus removed himself from the negativity and continued on in His ministry.
This is often hard to do, particularly if the negativity is coming from people who are close to us. But Jesus did not allow such abuse to stop Him from His greater call.
It’s easy to get down on ourselves and think we’re not worthy. We start to believe the negative words of our world and question our purpose.
This is not how God works. He desires to build us up, and give us the strength to walk away from those who set out to harm us and power on with the call on our lives.
Prayer: Lord, help me to build a Teflon coat so no negativity will pull me down from following You. Amen.
What words tear you down?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.