Picky, Picky This Instant!

Picky, Picky

I’m not a picky person.

I’m not picky about my food (so long as I’m not allergic to it). I’m not picky about the aisle or window seat on the plane (so long as the middle’s vacant). I’m not picky about my clothes (so long as they’re comfortable). I’m not even picky about my car (so long as it’s red). See? I’m not picky at all!

But about people … yes, indeed, I am a picky person. Little did you know that if you’re in my life, you’ve passed a slew of invisible tests. Are we related by blood? You’re in by default. Do you make me laugh? You’re in. Do you look me in the eye and prove your listening skills? Points scored. Do we think alike, talk alike, and approach life alike? Check, check, and check. All you people are IN.

I have my Favorite People, Nice But Just Okay People, Fully Draining People, and Make Me Grit My Teeth People. It’s quite the contest to land in the most desirable caste, but don’t give up just yet. Keep trying to impress me and you’ll likely arrive.

So, that’s me – picky is as picky does. But Jesus? Jesus knows of no such tests or categories. He wasn’t picky. He isn’t picky. And while I feel justified demanding loyalty and honesty of my people, Jesus doesn’t even set the bar that low. He hung out with 12 guys, knowing full well all along that one would betray Him. And one would deny him on more than one occasion. Yet still He let them into His inner circle. Seriously, Jesus? Have you no standards, not even for your friends? Nope, and no.

What if you were standardless with the people in your life? What if you had no tests, no series of ‘rulings out’? What if you loved others simply because you were so full of love, you had nowhere else to lavish it than onto your Favorite People, So-So People, Insanity Inducing People, and even your Outright Enemy People … What if you loved them all? And what if your love was so genuine that somehow you, too, became changed by it?

“Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ Jesus answered, ‘Yes, it is you.’” Matthew 26:25

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34