What If God Asks You to Help Someone You Don't Like?

By Pastor John Erickson

There are certain people you're happy to help.

A good friend needs a ride? Absolutely. Someone from church is sick and needs a meal? Of course. A neighbor is struggling and you can lend a hand? Sounds great.

But what about somebody you don't like?

What if God asks you to move toward someone who has hurt you? Or somebody whose beliefs and actions seem to stand against everything you value?

Now we're getting into uncomfortable territory.

That's where Ananias found himself in Acts 9. And I think we can learn an enormous amount about discipleship from this man who has almost no public profile in the New Testament.

A Very Uncomfortable Assignment

Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians. His reputation preceded him. People knew he was coming, and they had reason to be afraid.

Then Jesus stopped Saul on the road. Saul was left blind and had to be led into the city. For several days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank.

Meanwhile, God spoke to a disciple named Ananias and told him to go to a particular house on a street called Straight. There he would find Saul.

Ananias was supposed to place his hands on Saul so that he could see again.

I can almost hear Ananias thinking, Lord, have you looked at the man's résumé?

This isn't somebody with a history of making Christians feel welcome. This is the man who has been hunting them down.

Ananias voices his concern. He tells the Lord what he knows about Saul's violence and authority to arrest believers. And yet God says, "Go." Saul is a chosen instrument for a purpose Ananias cannot yet see.

Ananias is being invited to trust God's perspective over his own fear.

Freedom Sometimes Means Following Someone Else's Lead

We love to talk about freedom. We don't always love the idea of surrender.

But the New Testament gives us this surprising picture: through Jesus, we're set free from sin and invited to serve God.

In Romans 6:22, Paul describes believers as people who have been set free from sin and become servants of God. That sounds a little backward to our ears. Isn't freedom about doing whatever I want?

Not according to Jesus.

We can become enslaved to our own desires, ambitions, resentments, and fears. We tell ourselves we're completely independent, all while those things quietly control us.

Following Jesus means allowing a different Lord to direct our lives.

And sometimes that Lord asks us to do things we would never have put on our personal to-do list.

Ananias doesn't get to choose the easy assignment. He receives the difficult one.

"Brother Saul"

There's one little detail in this story that I find beautiful.

When Ananias arrives, he places his hands on Saul and says, "Brother Saul."

I wonder how hard it was to say those words.

This man was frightening. He represented danger. His actions had caused real suffering. And the very first word Ananias speaks to him is brother.

That doesn't mean Ananias is naive. It doesn't mean every broken relationship should immediately be restored without accountability or wise boundaries.

It means Ananias is willing to recognize what Jesus is doing in somebody he once knew only as an enemy.

His obedience becomes part of Saul's healing. Saul regains his sight. He is baptized. He receives strength. And a man who intended to take the church apart becomes a messenger of Jesus.

We tend to remember Saul-later known as Paul-because of everything God did through him.

But I wonder how often we overlook Ananias.

He did not leave us a collection of New Testament letters. We don't read about his speaking tours or impressive crowds. What we know about him is that he listened to Jesus and cared for someone nobody expected him to care for.

That's a pretty remarkable legacy.

Your Mission Field May Be Uncomfortable

Putting myself in Ananias's shoes makes me ask an uncomfortable question: How do I speak about the people God has called me to love? I can be very quick to notice what is wrong in the culture around me. But contempt is a poor starting point for sharing the love of Jesus.

I think we have a temptation as Christians to look out at the world with frustration and disdain.

There are people whose beliefs make us angry. People whose behavior makes us shake our heads. Sometimes we begin treating the people Jesus came to save as if they were the enemy we came to defeat.

And I wonder what that says about our understanding of the gospel.

Ananias had every reason to keep his distance from Saul. Yet Jesus sent him toward the very person he feared.

Who might that person be in your life?

I'm not suggesting you should put yourself in danger. Some situations require protection, distance, and outside help. The point isn't that we must trust every person who has hurt us.

The point is that our willingness to obey Jesus cannot be limited to people who are already easy for us to love.

Maybe obedience looks like praying for someone you've written off. Maybe it's replacing contempt with compassion. Perhaps it's extending a genuine invitation, acknowledging a person's dignity, or listening before you speak.

These aren't always dramatic moments. Sometimes it's as simple as taking one step down a street you would rather avoid.

Faithfulness Doesn't Have to Be Famous

I think about how much pressure we put on ourselves to do something significant for God.

We imagine that significance must involve a stage, a platform, or a big visible result. We want to know whether our ministry is going somewhere.

I know the pressure to figure out exactly the right words: How should I say this? In what order? How do I convince this person? It is easy for me to take responsibility for an outcome that belongs to God.

Paul describes himself planting and Apollos watering, while God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6). That does not excuse carelessness. It does remind me that I can be faithful without being in control of another person's response.

Ananias reminds me that faithfulness can be much quieter.

He was simply available when God called. He listened, raised his concerns, and eventually went.

He wasn't the star of the story. That's okay. Jesus was doing something much bigger than Ananias could see.

Sometimes our role in the Kingdom of God is to show up, lay a hand on somebody's shoulder, and remind them that Jesus has not given up on them.

And you never know what that person might do next.