Introduction – When People Don’t Approve of You
Rainey began her message with a story from her college years — a painful and funny one about rejection. She told how she dated a grad student named Noah who was brilliant, popular, and part of an elite, intellectual friend group. When she went to dinner to meet his friends, she knew she was being evaluated — an “audition dinner.” When asked about Kant’s Critique of Judgment, all she could say was, “I think Kant is really good. Art also, very good. So to sum up, I am pro.” It didn’t go well. Shortly after, Noah broke up with her, saying she “wasn’t smart enough” and that she’d be more comfortable with someone “her speed.”
It was humiliating. She had been evaluated and found lacking.
Rainey then drew the connection: this kind of rejection happens to all of us. We don’t always fit in. Sometimes we’re not chosen, we’re overlooked, or we’re compared unfavorably to others — the sibling the parents brag about, the colleague the students prefer, the church that people leave for.
She said, “There’s no use pretending everyone will love you. That’s not true. The Gospel has to be good news even when people don’t like us.”
If our sense of worth depends on impressing others, we become weak, reactive, and easily crushed. To show how dangerous this is, Rainey turned to Scripture.
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1. The Danger of Insecurity (Matthew 14:1–11)
She read the story of Herod and John the Baptist:
“Herod was greatly distressed, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he ordered that John be beheaded…” (Matthew 14:9)
Rainey highlighted that Herod didn’t kill John out of hatred. He killed him out of insecurity. He wanted to look strong in front of his guests. He cared more about their approval than what was right.
She said, “If Herod hadn’t been so desperate for them to think he was strong, he’d have been free to ask, ‘What is right?’ Instead, he asked, ‘What do they want to see?’”
That’s what insecurity does. When we tie our worth to others’ opinions, we become unable to do what’s right. We can only do what others want to see. It’s a position of terrible weakness.
Then she brought it home: “If I link my worth to your approval, I can’t be a person who obeys God. I can only be a person who performs for you.”
That’s why we need good news for the insecure heart.
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2. Imago Dei – You Are Made in the Image of God
Rainey’s first idea for finding freedom from insecurity is the biblical truth of the Imago Dei — that every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).
She described how all beauty and goodness in creation point to God:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; day after day they pour forth speech.” – Psalm 19:1–2
Mountains, oceans, sunsets — they all reflect something of His glory. But humans are unique because we don’t just reflect His glory — we resemble Him.
She said, “God used His own fingers to carve the lines of your face. He held your cheeks and said, ‘Yes, that’s just right.’”
We are designed to show the world something of what God is like — each of us in a slightly different way. To despise yourself or wish to be someone else is to insult the Artist who made you.
“The one who carved your bones is not wishing you were more like your sister.”
It’s beneath your dignity, Rainey said, to let your worth swing back and forth with every opinion. Your worth is not determined by the crowd — it’s anchored in the Creator.
Then she turned to the Third Commandment, often translated “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain.” She explained that the Hebrew verb nasa means “to carry.” So the command really says:
“Do not carry the name of the Lord your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
In other words: “You carry My name. Represent Me well.”
If we treat people as though they don’t matter, we misrepresent the God who made them. When we devalue others, we carry His name badly — we show the world a false picture of Him.
So, what are we called to show the world?
Rainey told the story of Hagar in Genesis 16 — an abused, pregnant, runaway slave who meets God in the desert. God sees her, comforts her, and promises a future. In response, she names Him:
“You are El Roi — the God Who Sees Me.”
And Rainey said, “That’s who He still is. To people no one else sees, He is the God who sees.”
That’s our calling as image bearers: not to impress others, but to see others as He does. The highest calling is not to be admired — it’s to notice the forgotten, to look into someone’s eyes and say with our presence, ‘God has not forgotten you.’
When we do that — whether as a doctor, teacher, parent, or neighbor — we reveal the God who sees. That’s the stable foundation of our worth: not impressing people, but bearing His image.
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3. The Gospel According to You
Rainey’s second major idea was that God isn’t wishing you were more like anyone else — because He designed you to tell the story of His goodness in a unique way.
She illustrated this through the four Gospels:
• Matthew, the tax collector, wrote to show that Jesus fulfilled every prophecy — the precise, orderly Gospel for those who care about facts and fulfillment.
• Mark, reflecting Peter’s voice, wrote fast and action-packed — the soldier’s Gospel for people who value power and results.
• Luke, the doctor, wrote a polished, reasoned account — the intellectual’s Gospel, highlighting compassion, reason, and human dignity.
• John, the emotional “son of thunder,” wrote the love letter Gospel — passionate, personal, and poetic.
Each one tells the same story of Jesus, but from a different angle. None could replace the others. Together, they give us a fuller picture of who Jesus is.
Then Rainey made her point: “To celebrate Him fully, we need all four voices. And to celebrate Him even more fully, we need yours too.”
She said, “The Gospel according to Coleton is that God can save anyone, even the people no one expects. The Gospel according to Rainey is that He’s the reason nature is beautiful and ethics matter. And yours will sound different still — and that’s exactly the point.”
Each of us is meant to tell the world how Jesus has been good news to us.
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” – Psalm 107:2
God doesn’t need more copies of the same person. He needs each of us to reveal a facet of His beauty that no one else can.
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4. Loaves and Fishes – You Are Enough for God to Use
Finally, Rainey turned to her last idea: You are not enough — but you are enough when given to Jesus.
She said, “Please don’t hear me saying, ‘Believe in yourself because you are enough.’ You aren’t. I’m not either.”
We cannot heal trauma, fix the world, or even make our loved ones wise or successful. We feel inadequate because we are inadequate.
But, she said, “You are enough the way loaves and fishes were enough.”
When a boy handed Jesus his meager lunch, Jesus made it feed thousands. The bread and fish weren’t enough — until they were surrendered.
In the same way, when we offer our homes, our talents, our dinners, our time — however small — Jesus multiplies it into something eternal.
Rainey shared that she often prays before people come to her home for dinner: “Lord, take this lasagna and somehow receive glory from it.”
That’s how our lives work. Not because we’re impressive, but because when we hand what we have to Him, He uses it to show His goodness.
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5. Closing Blessing and Prayer
Rainey ended with this charge and blessing:
“In an ocean of opinions, you do not have to audition for your worth. And don’t make anyone else audition for theirs.”
Walk in the dignity of an image bearer. Tell the Gospel according to you. And when you feel your not-enoughness, hand it to Jesus like loaves and fish — He will make it enough.
She closed by praying that the Spirit would free us from comparison and insecurity, and send us out to be people who see others as God sees them.
“Lord Jesus, thank You that You were unmoved by the crowd’s opinion. Set our faces toward You. Free us from the tyranny of competition, and send us to the lonely, the overlooked, and the left-out — not to compete but to bless.”
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Discussion Questions
1. Where are you most tempted to “audition” for approval? What does it look like to find your worth in how others see you?
2. How does the truth of being made in the Imago Dei change how you see yourself — and how you treat others?
3. Which “Gospel voice” do you most relate to — Matthew’s precision, Mark’s action, Luke’s compassion, or John’s love? What might “the gospel according to you” sound like?
4. What “loaves and fishes” could you offer to Jesus this week? (Something small you can surrender for His glory.)
5. Who around you might need to be “seen”? How could you bear God’s image to them by communicating, “God sees you”?
