Kindness September 9, 2001
Kindness shows respect for the dignity of man as one who is created in God’s image. It is a way of showing reverence to God himself. Prov 12:10 A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
When I was a little boy I lived in a neighborhood full of boys. The Wilkerson boys up the street from me used to catch frogs and nail them to trees for entertainment. It made me sick. I told my mom and she said that this was an act of cruelty that showed that these boys didn’t respect what God had made. They would throw rocks at stray dogs and do all sorts of mean things. It’s hard to find anything more beautiful than kindness. And hard to find anything more ugly than cruelty.
It is amazing how cruel and unkind people can be, not just to animals but especially to other people. Jenny and I were on the way home from WY and our last leg of the flight home was from Phoenix to Atlanta. The plane left there at 10:35 PM and arrived in Atlanta at 5:10 AM. It’s called a red eye flight. We boarded the plane and Steve, a 25 year old strong looking man who had been drinking sat next to me. He said his friends had taken him out on the town and suggested that he could show me some really wild places too. I told him I had never had a drink in my life. He was shocked. Are you religious or something? He asked. The door was open so I walked in. God allowed me the opportunity to tell Steve about my faith in Jesus and the Bible as his word. Steve told me he didn’t believe in God. He said you’ve got to look out for number one, because no one else is going to. He described his relationships with his friends and his girlfriends and some of his enemies and how many fights he had been in and how good it felt. He said, when you fight you feel really alive! I said, I know what you mean, then I told him I fought all the time. I fight temptation and sin, I fight to keep my family close to God, I fight to help my Christian family here to walk with God. I said, Yeah, it feels really alive to fight. But it feels better to fight the good fight for God instead of the squabbles of the devil. I told him about Jesus’ fight to save him. It was a fight with his own flesh when he prayed to the Father to let the cup of sin and sorrow pass. Jesus fought the temptation to call 10,000 angels who would end his suffering and yet lose humanity to sin. Jesus fought the pain of mocking and scourging and spitting. He fought the shame of nakedness and cruelty and insults. He fought the agony of the nails and the weight of our sins and worst of all the punishment for all those sins as if he had committed them himself when in truth, he never once, ever did anything wrong. Steve listened. Then he said, “I don’t believe it.” And I thought that’s why you are who you are and do what you do. The farther one is from God the less they understand what it means to be truly human and how to truly love others. But let me get back to my subject.
God’s word says, “Love is kind…” 1 Cor. 13:4
The Mormons have a commercial out about kindness. They show a man standing in the rain and someone who is driving by reaches out and hands him an umbrella. I forget the line that follows, but the point is clear. Being kind and blessing others is a beautiful thing. It shines with a light that attracts us.
As a religious body the Mormons are growing. They attract people, not so much by their theology, which is so weird that some of their own people are embarrassed by it. That’s why they never advertise it. No, they attract people by their focus on family devotion and kindness. They somehow have connected these things with their commitment to being Mormon. Satan is a good counterfeiter.
What about us? What are we as the Churches of Christ known for? How do we attempt to attract people to us? Classically, we in the churches of Christ have tried to attract people by an idea… that idea is that everyone needs to be in the church that you read about in the New Testament. In presenting this idea some have gone to war with denominationalism and made it their chief mission to correct certain matters of teaching or practice or acts of worship that do not line up with the instructions found in the New Testament and these same people condemn everyone who falls short. The strange thing is that in attempting to be the New Testament church many have acted in very un-New Testament like ways.
Don’t get me wrong here. We need to confront error when it presents itself. But Jesus always taught that we need to confront it in ourselves first. As we point out the errors of others we need to be a confessing people ourselves. When a denominational person’s prayer life puts mine to shame, I need to confess that. When a denominational person’s evangelistic zeal, or Bible study habits, or any other Christ-like behavior puts mine to shame, I need to confess that. We all have plenty of room to grow don’t we? Humility and kindness mingled with truth and boldness… these are essential to Christ-like attraction.
Imagine the church as a team and all other religious bodies and nonreligious groups are other teams. Now suppose there is a big scoreboard. On it are scores that show how everyone is doing. If we were to look at the scoreboard of how we are doing in fulfilling the work of seeking and saving the lost, how do you think it would look? What’s going on? Does it look like we are the glorious victorious body of Christ? Do we look like the kingdom of God that Jesus described which is spreading like yeast through the lump of dough or growing like the tiny mustard seed into the largest of garden plants? Are we winning others by our love for one another and our zeal for the kingdom like Jesus said?
I am all for restoring the New Testament church. God’s word is the guide for his church and when we are doing what God says, we can expect to see the results that God promises. Restoring New Testament churches is not only about doing things God’s way for worship, it is about doing things God’s way in every aspect of our lives. It is about loving with the love of Christ and working with the strength of Christ and worshipping in the Spirit of Christ and whatever we do in word or deed doing it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father through him.
When the New Testament talks about restoration, Jesus is speaking to the 7 churches of Asia. Listen to His words in Rev. 2: 4 ’But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ’Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place-- unless you repent.
Restoration is like making your bed or washing your dishes. They just get dirty with use and must be made up and cleaned up over and over. As I grew up, I used to hear what was commonly called first principles lessons. They always included hearing, believing, repenting, confessing and being baptized. These are actually called elementary principles in the Bible. The first principles are Faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is Love! When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment, you know what he said. Love! First, love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and second, love your neighbor as yourself. When God’s word lines up the three greatest things in the world they are: Faith, hope and love. But which one is the greatest? Love, right! When the apostle John wrote and used a word to define who God is, what one word did he say? Love.
Say it with me, “God is love!” Do you believe that? Just thinking about that ought to do something to you! God… is… love…
Not love as the world defines it, but love as God’s word defines it.
1 Cor. 13 gives us a concise description of love. It’s beautiful! We see a glimpse of the character of God laid out in living color!
Since we can’t cover everything here (and, in fact, probably not even one thing well), let’s just concentrate for the last bit here on one aspect that describes something that must be restored if we are to be the church that we read about in the New Testament.
It is down in verse 4. Are you ready? Here it is…
Love is kind. Kind. Kindness.
I looked up this word in the Old and New Testaments, particularly as it describes God. In the Old Testament this word is connected to covenant. “Hesed” is the Hebrew word. In 2 Samuel 9:3 David asks, “Is there not yet anyone of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Who’s kindness? God’s. This word is the word for the covenant kindness of God. It is almost always translated “lovingkindness” in the NASB. KJV translates it “mercy,” “kindness,” and sometimes “devotion.”
There are so many examples, and they are great, but let me just give you a few, ok?
Psalm 23:6 His “mercy” (covenant kindness), shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Hosea 6:6 For I desire “mercy” (covenant kindness), and not sacrifice. And knowing God more than burn offerings.
Hosea 12:6 Therefore return to your God, observe kindness (covenant kindness), and justice and wait for your God continually.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to act justly, love mercy (covenant kindness), and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you? Pardoning sin and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in lovingkindness (covenant kindness).
And get this, the Greek word for Christ is “Christos.” The Greek word for kindness in the New Testament is “Chrastos.” It most often refers to God’s kindness toward us. The other times it refers to our kindness toward one another in response to God’s kindness to us.
Listen to me now. We cannot claim to have restored New Testament Christianity unless we have restored covenant kindness toward one another. If love is the greatest commandment, and if love is greater than faith and hope, and if love is the description of the God we serve and if love is kind… Then we must practice kindness toward each other.
Being kind means being like the good Samaritan. Being kind means being like David was toward Saul’s family. Being kind is being like Jesus when he prayed, “Father forgive them…” Being kind controls our actions and our words towards one another.
Kindness is the very character of God that makes him want to save you and me. Rom 2:4, Eph. 2:7, Titus 3:4.
Kindness is the fifth fruit in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22.
Kindness comes from a heart that has tasted the grace of God. 1 Pet. 2:3
Be ye kind, on to another, tender hearted forgiving one another, just as the Lord in Christ Jesus forgave you.
Husbands are you kind to your wives? Wives are you kind to your husbands? Father’s are you kind to your children? Mother’s are you kind to your children? Children are you kind to each other?
If we don’t practice kindness, even in our homes among the people we love the most, where pray tell will we practice it?
Are we really serious about restoring the New Testament church or do we just want to look like it for a couple of hours a week? Is God satisfied with that?
Do you need help being kind? God has help. Come and let us pray with you and for you. Do you know the kindness of the Lord? Have you been saved by his blood? If you believe Jesus is the Son of God and are willing to repent of sin and confess your faith in him, you can be baptized into Christ here today. You can enter his kingdom and know his covenant kindness for you today. Come, taste the kindness of God’s everlasting love.
