Let Your Reasonableness Be Known....

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand Philippians 4:5

I’ve been reading through some of the books of the New Testament (among other things) when I go to the gym. I read through Galatians, Philippians and Ephesians in the ESV recently. Using one of the free, nifty bright yellow and purple stick pens (with purple ink) that Planet Fitness provides for their members (along with big buckets of grape and chocolate tootsie rolls) I mark the passages I want to remember…and look up later when I am sitting here on the couch, computer on my lap….with access to Studylight, the Bible Gateway…and the wonder of google. Today the verse above stood out.

The ESV is the only version I checked that uses the word reasonableness. Other versions use …….gentleness, moderation, graciousness….considerateness, forbearance.

It is the Greek word, Epieikes…which according to Strong’s means:

seemingly, suitable

equitable, fair, mild, gentle

Jamieson, Fausset, Brown says:

....it is from a Greek root, "to yield," whence yieldingness or from a root, "it is fitting," whence "reasonableness of dealing"

This verse, in this particular translation, intrigued me. Let your reasonableness be known by everyone. Now, let me ask you….are Christians known for their reasonableness? In particular, are evangelical, fundamentalist Christians known for their reasonableness? Very unlikely…in fact, to the secular world, many Christians are known for the exact opposite….their UNreasonableness.

Not what Paul advises us to do…

And not just reasonableness in religion….but bringing a little reasonableness into our day to day lives is not such a bad idea either. Somebody cuts you off in traffic. Is it reasonable to lose it, swear or cuss…flip them the bird or let it affect your day or mood? Long grocery line? All the agitated sighs and shaking of your head in utter annoyance is not going to make the line move one bit quicker. I know this for a fact because I’ve tried the method many, many time to no avail. Is it reasonable to let it affect your day? Is it reasonable to argue with your children, fret over the economy, ponder the what if’s and the why not’s to the point that it taints the things that are happening now? Is it reasonable for us to live in relative comfort and ease, while not too far from us there are probably homeless families and elderly people who are hungry and cold and lonely? Again….not really.

So just some things to ponder from the writings of Paul…..about reasonableness….and letting the world see that Christians are not necessarily best depicted by Christian radio, The Creation Museum, CBN and its many other unreasonable spokespeople. Today, I am going to try to let my reasonableness be known by everyone I come in contact with. Sound like a reasonable goal??