Years ago, Laurence Peter wrote a book about inefficiency in the business world. He entitled it, The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong. He sent his manuscript to McGraw-Hill, one of the leading publishers of business books in the country. Their editor sent a rejection notice, saying, “I can foresee no commercial possibilities for such a book and consequently can offer no encouragement.”
Dr. Peter sent his manuscript to 20 other publishers and all of them likewise sent him pink slips, also expressing their belief that the market value of his book was limited. After so rejections, you’d think that Dr. Peter would give up, but he didn’t. This time he sent his manuscript to William Morrow which published the book in 1969.
And how did his astute study on human behavior do in bookstores? Over eight million copies of The Peter Principle have been sold. Not bad for any book, much less one that was repeatedly rejected for having limited commercial value.
Dr. Peter’s experience of rejection has been repeated over and over in history. Consider Abraham Lincoln, regarded by many historians as our country’s greatest president. He was defeated seven times in his bid for elective office before winning the presidency in 1860. Or Vincent van Gogh, one of the greatest painters of the 19th century; yet in his lifetime he only earned $85. Shortly after his death, his sister-in-law sold one of his paintings for $58. In 1990, that same painting was sold at an auction in New York for $82.5 million.
Then there is Jesus, regarded even by some non-Christian historians as one of the greatest persons who ever lived. He was rejected not only by the religious leaders of his time but also, as we just heard, by the people of his own hometown.
If Lincoln, Van Gogh and Jesus had let rejection govern their lives and keep them from doing what they thought was right, our world would be a much poorer place today.
By his example, Jesus is making an important point that we mustn’t ignore. Anyone who hopes to build a better world must be prepared to be rejected. Almost anyone in this church who endeavors to live according to the values of the gospel has experienced the kind of rejection Jesus is talking about here. I have. After all, we live in a society that doesn’t want to hear what Jesus has to say.
Ask the students in high school or college what happens when they try to remain honest in an exam while others are cheating. Ask them what happens when they try to remain chaste or sober at a party while their peers choose not to. Ask anyone what happens when they speak out against discrimination while others around them are assassinating the character of ethnic minorities. In the past that would have been African Americans, nowadays that would be people from the Middle East or Latin America.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot let rejection keep us from doing what we think is right. We cannot let the fear of rejection keep us from being honest, defending the rights of the unborn and standing up for the rights of ethnic minorities. We cannot let rejection keep us from being the people of faith we claim to be or that God has called us to be.
We cannot let the fear of rejection keep us from making God’s role in our lives evident to others. Because if we do, we will leave the world a poorer place.
I do not recall what explanation The Peter Principle gives for why things go wrong but Paul puts forth his theory in his letter to the Corinthians. Without love, we are nothing more than noisy gongs. He isn’t talking about romantic love here. For him, like many ancient writers, love is the social cement that builds up friendship and the common life of society. With examples, he provides a blueprint for addressing the wrongs of our world that takes some of us a lifetime to master.
By rephrasing his letter, we can judge for ourselves how much we have mastered in life thus far. Which statements describe you? I am patient. I am kind. I am not jealous. I do not put on airs. I am not snobbish. I am not rude. I am not self-seeking. I am not hot-tempered. I do not brood over injuries. I do not refuse to forgive. I do not rejoice in what is wrong but I rejoice in the truth. There is no limit to my forbearance, my trust, my hope, and my power to endure.
How many of those statements describe you? On some counts, I am not so sure if I could always give myself a passing grade, but this much I do know. Being a Christian is a matter of responding faithfully to God’s love with a love that compels me to live the gospel of Jesus Christ; otherwise, to quote Paul again, I am nothing. My daily prayer is that I will master these lessons of love even if it takes me a lifetime and leave this place richer in the act of doing so. I hope that is your prayer as well. We mustn’t give up trying.
You might feel that these lessons may be too difficult to master but they are not impossible to learn. As Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta once said, “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”
For those who still fail to see the urgency of Paul’s lesson and Jesus’ wisdom, Dr. Peter had this to say, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than going to the garage makes you a car.”