Be thou ware

I always figure you might as well approach life like everybody's your friend or nobody is... don't make much difference.

The character who says this line in the movie Silverado then goes on to recount how a group of new friends took everything he had and left him to die in the wasteland.

As is often the case, virtue lies in the middle (in medio stat virtus).

It is the same way within our Christian community: some people approach every fellow Christian as a friend in Christ, while others trust no one until they have been thoroughly proven.

Today’s readings offer approaches that lie in between.

In the first reading (2 Timothy 4:10-17b), St. Paul seems to tend toward the latter approach, advising Timothy to take a rather stern stance regarding a particular individual.

Of whom be thou ware also;
for he hath greatly withstood our words.

In the Gospel (Luke 10:1-9), our Lord commands his followers to take a more open approach:

And into whatsoever house ye enter,
first say, Peace be to this house.
And if the son of peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it:
if not, it shall turn to you again.

These two approaches – one more guarded, one more open – are not really in conflict. Rather, they are part of a continuum.

Our Lord’s words advise us how first to approach people whom we do not know: by wishing them well.

And into whatsoever house ye enter,
first say, Peace be to this house.

Yet from the very beginning, we are to be engaged in discernment.

And if the son of peace be there,
your peace shall rest upon it:
if not, it shall turn to you again.

The primary initial criterion is receptivity: receptivity to peace and receptivity to the Gospel. Later in this same chapter, our Lord advises how to deal with those who are not receptive to the Gospel:

But into whatsoever city ye enter,
and they receive you not,
go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say,
Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us,
we do wipe off against you:
notwithstanding be ye sure of this,
that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

So too, as we encounter people in our lives and even in cyberspace, our initial stance must be to wish all people well, yet with discernment fully engaged.

If the others are not receptive, we move on.

The act of shaking off dust has at least two levels of meaning. On the one hand, it is one last act of communicating the message we have been commanded to communicate.

Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us,
we do wipe off against you:
notwithstanding be ye sure of this,
that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.

On the other hand, shaking off the dust “which cleaveth on us” symbolizes how we should not hold onto grudges or second-guessing from unsuccessful contacts, but rather keep our attention focused on the task at hand and on those to whom we must yet tell the good news of Christ.

Finally, at the far end of the continuum, we come to the situation where people are not just unreceptive: they actively oppose our speaking of the truth, our sharing of God’s word. That is the situation of which St. Paul is speaking (“for he hath greatly withstood our words”).

In such a situation we must indeed beware, yet neither must we let these evil-speakers become our focus. Our focus must be Christ and the work he has given us to do.

Ultimately, we leave these others to God (as St. Paul says, “the Lord reward him according to his works.”)

Not everyone is our friend, neither should we assume everyone is our enemy. In our dealings with others, stranger or acquaintance, Christian or otherwise, we must always discern and must always focus on sharing the peace and the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.