MISCELLANEOUS MONDAY: Boycotting Christians - Stephen

boycott = a withdraw from commercial or social relations with a country, organization, or person as a punishment or protest 

(Definition from Oxford Languages)

 

Once upon a time there was this man. For some reason everyone around him tried to get him to boycott things. 

 

One day he was taking a trip with his friends. Around the middle of the day, they got tired and thirsty. They came upon this lady who happened to have some drinking water. His friends told him not to talk with her and certainly not ask her for a drink. You see his friends didn’t like this woman not because they knew her but because they knew where she was from. “Stay away from her.” “Ignore her.” “Boycott her.” “Surely she’s used to people like us treating people like her that way anyway,” they said. In the end he didn’t boycott her, he boycotted the prejudice of his friends instead.

 

On another day he was eating a meal with some people in town. Other guys in that same town who took their religion very seriously saw this man eating and more importantly who he was eating with.  “Why would someone like you eat with people like them?” “Stay away from those cheats, those thieves, those people we refuse to even talk about in front of our kids.” “Ignore them.” “Boycott them.” “Surely people like those are used to people like us treating them that way anyway,” they said. Instead of boycotting those with whom he was eating, he boycotted the pride of those with whom he was not.  

 

On a third day this man decided to walk around town and teach the people some things that he knew. Surrounded by his countrymen, one of them started questioning about having to pay taxes. They didn’t pay taxes to their country but to a people they despised. “We just want to stay away from this group of people that hate us, persecute us, and rule us,” they said. “Ignore them.” “Boycott them.” “Surely people like them are used to people like us treating them that way anyway,” they said. Instead of boycotting the people who ruled, he instead boycotted making the issue at hand much of an issue at all. 

 

At the end of the story this man didn’t really boycott all that much. He didn’t stay away from many people or groups of people. Truth be told, the only people he ever truly boycotted in his life were the ones who claimed to be one thing but turned out to be another—especially when the name of his father was involved. 

 

Because he didn’t boycott the woman when his friends wanted him to, she carried on a conversation with him and ended up changed by the meeting. Because he didn’t boycott those he was eating lunch with many of them became his eternal friends. And because he didn’t boycott those to whom his country paid their taxes, everyone understood his purpose in life was about something more. 

 

So WWJB—what would Jesus boycott? It would seem very little from what was expected.