Reasonable Rejection

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have been pondering lately the idea of it being reasonable to reject someone. I picked out the name of someone who I do not enjoy. I tried to make a list of Christ centered reasons that make it acceptable to reject this person.

Please understand that this person is not an enemy. I know that I am supposed to love my enemies. Most of the time I think I have that one covered. This person just irritates me. There is also the dilemma that this individual is a fellow Christ follower, so I must demonstrate Christ to the world by my love for them.

It would seem than that the only people I can reasonably reject are those who are not my enemies who do not follow Christ. I think there may be a problem there as well. If someone is not a follower of Christ, I am supposed to love them and be an example of Christ’s love for them. So there is not a reasonable way to reject someone.

Perhaps I can just dislike them and ignore them. The problem with that is that wanted or not they are a part of my life. They have not done me any wrong and in fact they are nice and do their best to be good to others. I did not choose for them to enter the circle of my existence, but since God is sovereign he did. I guess that means that I am supposed to accept them.

Then there is that whole love your neighbor as you love yourself thing. It seems that there are no grounds on which I can reject someone else. I cannot be mean to them. I cannot be impatient with them. I cannot show them disrespect. I cannot ignore or be merely passive with this person. What is left?

It seems that if I wish to maintain my desire to follow Christ there are things I must do. I must show this person love, patience, kindness, gentleness, and mercy. I must be generous with them and give my very best to them as Christ gives his best to me. No matter who someone enters my circle of life, I must acknowledge that God has brought them there and treat them as he would treat them.

Rejection of others is not reasonable given the measure the Christ endured so that I could be accepted.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure store."