Kick that Person to the Curb

Get rid of ’em. No mercy. Zero sympathy.

Before you fill my comments with abrasive responses, let me explain the lesson I learned this week. (But actually, I do appreciate all comments … so comment away.)

I am doing some reading on bees … those pesky little stingers we run from but enjoy their byproducts like flower pollination and sweet honey. Bees have a system, each one has a role. Worker bees, drones, and queens. All serve the queen. Drones are responsible to mate with the queen and many die in the process (not my preference when it comes to building a family legacy).

Drones are often expelled, or even killed, once their role is over, or once the queen is done with mating. They end up being a drain on the hive. They don’t collect food and they don’t fight to protect the hive. They are a drain on the queen and the system so out they go. One twist is if the hive has an infertile queen, drones are allowed to stay. Hives with infertile queens will also welcome wondering drones that have been expelled from a sister hive.

So basically, most drones are kicked to the curb, thrown out on their fuzzy backside. What would our families, our circle of friends, our churches look like is we did this?

We know bad company corrupts good morals … so we should be cautious with whom we hang with. And we need to be vigilant to protect against wolves in sheep clothing. And I agree to protect oneself from dangerous and damaging relationships, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But where do we draw the line so we are not bubble wrapping ourselves and in the process hurting some we should be reaching out to help, comfort, heal?

There are times we need other people … and their are times other people need us. The early church gave when they saw a need in their community. They didn’t kick every person in need to the curb. If we kicked needy, financial draining, entitled little snots to the curb every time, most families would kick all teenagers out.

So what do we do? Where is that line?

I can only answer with one word … Grace. Show grace. Be an instrument of grace.

If it wasn’t for grace, we would’ve been kicked to the curb a long time ago. Even by God. But He is a God of grace. And the more we get this …

Our ability to appreciate grace is in direct correlation to the degree to which we acknowledge our need for it. (Kyle Idleman)

Be that person of grace in someone’s life … today.

And join us this Sunday (7.21.19). at Evergreen Baptist as I talk even more about bees. Bee there!

If you want a good article, albeit a bit disturbing, look here for more info on the drones.