The usually response to that is be nice, and a forceful push into the playground. How many of those became our dear friends, who we stay friends with to this day? Maybe not many, but undoubtedly it lead to friendship where none had previously existed.
This morning reading 2 Corinthians, this jumped out at me.
"Make room for us in your hearts" 2 Cor 7:2
Paul is pleading with the Corinthians, to make room for him and his friends in their hearts, as he made for them.
This tells us two things;
1) That Paul was not in their hearts.
2) That he could be, by a choice on their part.
The convicting thing about this, is that my excuse, 'but I just don't like them' no longer holds to the light. It would seem that making room for someone is not a matter of feelings, but of choice. And I wonder how many people I have excluded because of it.
How many times have I been happy with my isolation, comfortable in my circle, and made the choice, there's no room for you in here. Whether I said it to somebody or not, it is clearly communicated, I'm sure that we have probably all felt the sting of it at some point.
When we aren't invited, when the conversation goes silent when we enter the group.
And I wonder, are our hearts really that small, that we cannot fit any more in, or is it simply because we do not wish too? Like preparing for a hot-dog eating contest, the contestant stretches their stomach, or the person who just eats a lot, is it because they were born with a giant stomach, or they made it big by eating heaps?
Are people born with giant hearts, or are they made, when we decide to let people in.
How many times have we missed an incredible blessing by excluding others from our life. The Corinthian church was excluding arguably the greatest, most 'wise' apostle and church builder in history, how many of us would jump at the chance to learn from Paul for a day?
Yet we leave no room for the guy across the room, the girl by the bar, who could have something that changes the world?
Peace,
Daniel