Birds of a feather

Do you like other people?  That is a rhetorical question in that almost everybody likes other people.  They like having friends, family, acquaintances, companions, etc.  Sure, there are those, because of one circumstance or another (or choice) who are hermit in nature, and really don't like others around.  But I'm talking us here....us regular guys, the men, husbands, and fathers of the world...the everyday Joe's.

We are accumstomed to being around people.  They are a part of our general comfort zone.  It is almost as if we need people around us because it is a natural part of our being...we are people, and therefore we like other people around.

Now it gets just a bit sticky.  What type of people do you like around you?  Here are some of my least favorite kind...the ones I prefer not to be around:

• openly evil people....blatently foul, evil, narcissistic people
• chronic liars....the kind that know, and know that I know
• chronic "downers"....people so self absorbed in their down-ness that they absolutely refuse to see any upside at all, regardless of how much positive reinforcement is shared with them

Here are some of the types of folks I really enjoy being around:

• candid, honest, and sincere folks
• folks with a sense of humor who can laugh at themselves
• godly people for sure, most especially very humble ones who acknowledge their brokeness

It is said that birds of a feather, flock together.  In some ways, we are like birds....because we tend to "flock" with like kind.  Like kind represents a comfort zone for us.  More on that in a minute.  You and I are drawn to folks similar to us in nature, just as they are drawn to us, true?  Thus if we struggle with friendships and acquaintances that may be not the healthiest for us (I have been there) perhaps we need to focus on US.  This might help:

 



Some of you may be thinking that this sounds elitist and exclusionary.  Bear with me for just a minute.  If you are not the kind of person you want to meet (and therefore be around) then you won't be the kind that others want to meet and be around.  And that means that your job as a witness for all that God has done for you will be unecessarily tainted, and most likely somewhat unproductive.  I'm suggesting that if you are in your comfort zone....you are the kind of person you want to meet....then you will also be very able and willing to step out of that comfort zone to do what God has led you to do....go fishing (fishers of men).