Proxy

I have a theory of sorts.  And I'll try to lay it out as coherently as possible.

Where to begin?

Let's start with a hypothetical person, who sits in quiet anonymity.  No one really knows them very well, but they're well liked, because on the whole they're agreeable and friendly enough.  

Now, lets say they actually start speaking up.  Maybe they make known what sports team they prefer by wearing a hat that proclaims their allegiance.  Perhaps they're spotted at a local rally for a politician of a certain stripe.  Maybe they start talking about their views on things like abortion, or men participating in woman's sports.

Maybe they actually start standing for something.

This triggers a reaction.  Now people don't necessarily like them so much as before.  Being a fan of a certain team is generally well-received, and met with good-natured ribbing.  But in the realm of politics, people are more likely to react and reject the person based on their stance, especially if they are vocal about it.



So, where am I going with this?


Sometimes, maybe it's not YOU that they reject, it's what you represent.

And even beyond that (and here's where my theory starts,) if they reject you, then they may automatically have a negative reaction to anything else that you stand for or have an opinion about.


So for instance, if you are a die-hard Pepsi person, they may decide they vastly prefer Coke.  Or if you believe aliens don't exist, they may suddenly start embracing the idea.  If you love a certain genre of music, they find they can't stand it.  Or if you think flying is the only way to go, they'll start bemoaning the gradual demise of the enjoyable train ride.

Sometimes it might look very much like an across-the-board knee-jerk rejection of anything that one likes or believes in, and could leave a person feeling like there's nothing about them that's actually like-able at all.


Now, it's very possible to be genuinely disliked - or dislikable.  Or it's possible for two people to just have very different personalities and temperaments.  But isn't it also possible that, it's not that they reject you, it's that they reject everything you stand for?

Or, more specifically, they reject the most central thing  you believe in and base your life around, and the rest of it kind of gets to come along for the ride?  


Maybe it's not that I'm being rejected.  Maybe it's that Christ is actually the one in the cross-hairs...and as His proxy of sorts, that makes me the target.  


That makes it all much more easy to take, much more easy to accept, in many ways.


I could be completely off in my assessment.  But if I am, I think that's ok.  Call it trying to "put the best construction" on things.

I'd still much rather be liked and appreciated.  I'd still much rather have unity.  But, where any rejection is due to being a Christian...this is a great honor.  May God grant me the ability to see it as such.


-M