Rolling in Poison Ivy

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look not only for his interests, but also for the interest of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5.

I remember a story that my grandmother told me when I was younger, a story that blew my mind because it seemed to contradict everything about her heart. She described a time when there was a man in her church who frequently played an instrument (either a banjo or fiddle) during church events. It absolutely drove her insane, and she couldn’t stand to be around the man as he played his instrument. She even went as far as hiding it from him somewhere in the church. My grandfather had to gently remind her that the man playing his instrument was his worship and ministry to God. She begrudgingly placed it back where he had left it. I still cannot connect her heart to this story, but it was true. She was one of the finest Christian women I’ve ever met with a faith like no one else. And yet she also had ‘Christ-minded detours’ just like I have on occasion. Welcome to my occasion, the occasion when Scripture rubs up against me like poison ivy. I try to avoid touching it, but there it is in my path waiting to irritate my heart and soul. One day I’m feeling like a good little Christian girl, and the next I’m rolling in poison ivy.

There is a man who lives in the same community that just rubs me wrong. I won’t go into detail but when he appears, I just want to disappear. He has never done any wrong towards me, he just operates in a different mode of communication. It is no surprise that God has aligned this Bible Study during a time when I am going to see him often. The author of Just Open the Door has challenged me to identify my ‘Plus One’ with whom God wants me to ‘cultivate a spirit of welcome.’ There are zillions of others with whom this would be easy, but God rarely calls us to ‘easy.’ He calls us to more fully understand Christ-minded principles that welcome all people in. “True hospitality comes when we elevate another and shift the focus from ‘here I am’ to ‘there you are.’ The posture we assume in [biblical] hospitality is one that bends low, generously offering our hearts to another despite whatever interruption to our own plans, or comfort. Extending hospitality is about freely giving of ourselves while granting others to be themselves. It treats everyone as guests of honor rather than grabbing at honor for ourselves.” Just Open the Door, Jen Schmidt, p. 28.

Who is your Plus One? Who rubs you wrong as you pass them by? With whom is God calling you to cultivate a spirit of welcome? It dawned on me this morning that I just might be someone else’s poison ivy. God invites everyone into His fellowship and calls every one of us to lay down our own issues and to just open the door. The only way to be able to fulfill this call is to intentionally open our arms through the spirit of this passage. Christ opened His arms on the cross inviting us into the family, so if He can sacrifice everything so should we.

"Lord, thank you for showing us how to cultivate a spirit of welcome not based on emotions but based on the example Christ gave us. Amen."