Losing The Boxes: Why Accepting Others Is The Better Way

If I wait for others to be what I want them to be, I will never accept them. ~James Bryan Smith

I like boxes. Which is why the word acceptance can make me squirm. It seems too close to easy tolerance, the slippery slope into chaos that begins with a “whatever” shrug.

A substitute teacher reads the paper while the bullies have their way. Scout badges are handed out and slackers get the same. The neighbor boy grabs your toy and your parents think he’s cute.

We rightly fear a life-song with indifference as its tune.

So, perhaps like me, you draw a line, dole out your response. Approving applause or stiff-faced disdain, we sort people, good from bad; and put them into boxes, where we hope they’ll safely stay.

But what happens when the “bad” box is full and I stand  in the “good” box alone? Or what happens when it’s me I disdain, and I can’t find a way to get out?

Jesus’ command to “love your enemies” is for boxed-in moments like those. Love your enemies and pray for them, because there will be times when the enemy is everyone, and you still need people to love. 

God Has No Boxes

When we learn that God has no boxes, we find the courage to toss ours.

Accept one another just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God (Romans 15:7). The Greek word for “accept” means “to welcome someone into your home, into your closest circles of family and friendship.” Yes, God did that for you…and for the guy in the other box.

Outside The Box

I used to roll my eyes at people who had dogs. They smell, bark, pee, chew, whine, scratch, slobber. Why invite the mess?

Then sweet Pixie arrived, bringing delight and disarray. Hair on the couch, stains on the carpet, chewed up treasures–the list goes on and on. But she’s in our hearts, she’s family, and at her worst I know it best.

People aren’t dogs, but you get my point.

In Embracing the Love of God, James Bryan Smith promises, “God looks not to our strengths but to our weaknesses as a means of inserting his love in our hearts.”

A very un-boxlike strategy we can use.

Do you have boxes that may need to be tossed?