I ran into a troublesome word this morning. That word is, “reasonableness.” The reason it is so troublesome is because of its subjectivity. Being reasonable is subjective to the individual and to a situation. Therefore, one can only conclude that everybody’s unreasonableness is the extent of their reason-ability. Simply put– nobody is as reasonable as you or I, in whatever crazed, irrational, unreasonable mood we are found in. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand… (Philippians 4:5) The great difficulty in this verse is that Christ followers are being called to living a lifestyle of reasonableness in light of the fact that human nature is precisely unreasonable from the perspective of everybody living on the outside of your mind. I say this because I am postulating: if to be “reasonable” means that a person has the capabilities and aptitudes for sound judgment, and for being fair and sensible; then in fact, we are in trouble. The question then becomes, given that the task at hand is an impossibility, how in the world do you give the impression to every unreasonable person out there, that you, are in fact, reasonable? After much thought, I must conclude and I’m sure you’ll conclude as well, that in a world of unreasonable behavior, the best that any of us can do is give some crazy body reasonable doubt. However, in order to do that, we must understand reasonableness under the pretense of being unselfish. You see, when we are unselfish, we are more “reasonable” toward unreasonable people and thereby they become more reasonable. Let’s forget about other people for a second, and how crazy or unreasonable they may be. Let’s talk about how despite their unreasonableness, we are called to let the unreasonable people know that WE are reasonable. We do this by being considerate of their subjectively unreasonable lifestyles and decisions; and likewise, in great patience and endurance. Just to clarify, I don’t want any of you to give up an inch within your convictions and/or beliefs because we need to be patient and understanding and unselfish– stick to your convictions and beliefs, absolutely. In letting our reasonableness be known, we are effectually accepting all the unreasonable people into our lives without selfishly weeding out people who we know are unreasonable. It’s inviting them into communion with ourselves. It’s exactly what Jesus did when he died on a cross for us– he invited unreasonable creatures who traded paradise for a piece of fruit. Be reasonable, and let everybody know it.