Love is Kind
I love when my three-year-old is kind. There's just something tender about the way a small child expresses kind. It seems pure in a way unmatched by most of us grown-ups. I like to imagine that when the Bible describes the kindness of Jesus in the Gospels, He was this type of kind. I imagine this type of kindness when you rest your thoughts on Paul's description of love. Love is kind. Not kind like a politician is to a favored financial donor, think more like that enthusiastic and selfless kindness that children are still capable of. I am not often commemorated for my kindness, it saddens me to admit. And that's not anyone else's fault. Some of us just get less kind and more jaded as the years wear on us. Chances are you don't have to take my word for it! That's not to say we aren't kind or at least capable of it. We all know loads of kind folks. I'd even say all of our church family here at Rifle Adventist is pretty kind (wink wink) (Services start at 11 every Saturday morning, by the way) (#shamelessplug).
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;" -1 Corinthians 13:4
God has called every Christian believer to love, and the Bible says that love is kind. It's not just that to love someone is a kindness done to them. It's that you can't love someone and not be kind to them. God has not called us to hate. You will not find a Bible passage where Jesus commands his disciples to hate. You will, however, find plenty teaching us to love. Why is it then that so many Christians are unkind?
In the span of human history, it has been consistent that people showed kindness and good-will toward people they would or had benefited from. Even today, it's common for us to think better of someone who has done us a favor in the past rather than someone who rejected helping us in any way. Our culture values returning favors and transactional friendships. This is not what Jesus wants from us.
"And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?" -Matthew 5:47
There are two things going on in this passage. First Christ invites us to go beyond what non-believers do. The unbelieving can show kindness, but the Christian needs to show more. The second and less obvious thing happening in Jesus words is that Jesus is discontent with the world's standard of kindness. I would urge you, dear internet reader, to recognize that no matter how good you think someone might be by the standards of men, God's calling is even higher.
It is a difficult thing to ask of the world today: be kind to your enemy. Be kind to stranger. Be kind to the one that doesn't look like you, talk like you, think like you, worship like you, vote like you, love like you. Be kind. You cannot love without kindness, because love is kind.
I failed yesterday.
Yesterday as I tried crossing at an intersection, someone ran a red light and hit my car. And then they kept going. There I was, alone with only a vague description of their car and a small hole in mine. I pull off immediately and looked for the other driver but they were gone. I was so angry. I was angrier 30 minutes later when the officer let me know that no other driver had reported the accident. It really was a hit and run. I was happy to find out that the intersection had cameras. Then I wondered what I would do if I found that person. What would I say? Chances are I'd take it easy on the person. I'd try my best to stay calm and collected. I felt sad shortly after. This is not the heart Jesus is creating in me: one that is resentful to those that harm me. My kindness is not meant to be reserved for only those people I have seen or meant. But that's the sad truth. We're often less kind towards someone we can't see.
The internet is full of people we can't see. We see them making comments we don't agree with online, supporting causes we think are wrong. It's easy to be unkind to a faceless stranger whom you may never ever meet. News outlets and talking heads play off this tendency too. When they don't want us to sympathize with some group of people, they won't show their faces. They'll just refer to them by the action or the idea you don't agree with. This way, all you are able to associate with the person is negativity.
Kindness and negativity are not the same thing. Kindness and chiding someone are not the same thing. Kindness and contempt are not the same thing. I've recently realized that we treat children a bit more harshly than we think we do. My toddler is pure hearted still but she also acts as a miniature mirror. Everything we do to her becomes what she thinks is acceptable to do unto others. And I'll tell you what. It can be pretty humbling to realize something you do suddenly doesn't seem so kind or pure when your child does or says it. I urge you to be kind as a child is kind. I urge you to show love in patience and kindness to those you don't know and don't like and don't see.
Love is kind.
-pastor eli