“Jesus [himself] is the kindness of God.” (Titus 3:4)

Pastor Stuart Briscoe tells the story of his experience in Chicago. As he approached the Windy City in a rental car, he noted that the tank was getting low on gas. However, the gauge was a little off because suddenly the car came to an abrupt halt. The timing couldn’t have been worse. Stuart Briscoe found himself stuck in the fast lane on the freeway in the middle of rush hour. And it was raining sideways.

     So, as Dr. Briscoe climbed out of his car, he was greeted by a chorus of horns all expressing their displeasure. People were yelling out of their windows with expletives just to fill him in on the details. Then suddenly, an old, dilapidated car pulled alongside Stuart’s vehicle. The driver rolled down his window and said a few words in broken English.

     Fifteen minutes later, the same car returned. The driver jumped out and without a word proceeded to fill Stuart Briscoe’s tank from a can. The man had seen Briscoe’s plight, pulled off the freeway, found a service station, borrowed a can, gotten back on the freeway, fought the traffic and came to the rescue. When Stuart Briscoe tried to thank the man, he said, “Me, I just come from Puerto Rico, Friday. Ain’t nobody do nothing for nobody in this city.” And, with those words he was gone.

     Such self-sacrificing, benevolent acts of kindness seem rare in our world today. However, the people of the state of Louisiana are attempting to stem the tide of rude and indifferent behavior beginning in the classroom. Unkind behavior is generally precipitated by unkind language. So, the Louisiana state legislature has enacted a law that affects kindergarten through 5th grade. All students will be taught lessons of courtesy, respect, and kindness. Studies by Dr. Jane Healy have concluded that when courtesy and kindness are shown in the classroom, there is less talking, and less disturbance, allowing the teacher more time to teach.

     Yet, as exciting as the promise of this new program may be, the Scriptures teach that kindness is more than simple child’s play. In Hebrew, the word kindness or hesed literally means to bow one’s head in humility and treat the other person courteously. In other words, kindness is not a condescending act of pity or a sentimental gesture of sympathy. Nor is kindness putting forth a false pretense of mere tolerance or simply feigning to make nice. Instead, kindness is an approach that is right and proper for everyone to follow.

     According to Titus 3:4, “Jesus [himself] is the kindness of God.” Jesus’ hesed attracted people to him. He accepted others as they were. However, that doesn’t mean Jesus always approved of their behavior. Apart from the truth acceptance by itself can be unkind. The German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “Nothing can be crueler than the leniency which abandons others to their sin.”

     Jesus had a knack for speaking the truth in love. In many instances, I imagine the truth Jesus shared with others had a bit of a sting. As the adage goes, the truth can hurt. But Jesus demonstrated that the truth need not be hurtful.

     Some Christians feel it necessary to blow up others by way of speaking the truth. They blast people with their candor. They destroy folks by their frankness.

     They remind me of a huge, heavily tattooed biker who walked into a restaurant. He sat down at the counter next to a wimpy, little guy. The biker takes one look at the little man and says, “You might want to go check on that little excuse for a dog. I left my German Shepherd out there, and I doubt you’ll have much of a dog left.” So, the little man walks outside, comes back in, and says to the biker, “I don’t know how to tell you this. But my dog just killed your dog.” “No way,” the biker exclaimed. “How?” “He got stuck in your dog’s throat.”

     You know this. There are some whose judgements will chew you up. But, before they spit you out into little pieces, your hope is that they will choke on their words before they can say anything.

     Such judgments may be truthful, but they’re not helpful. Such words are, in fact, hurtful and unkind. And friend, let me help you make an important distinction. There is a difference between being a prophet and a jerk. The difference is that what moves the prophet is love and what motivates the jerk is anger.

     A friend of mine once shared with me a bit of counsel that makes a great deal of sense. She believes that before we cross someone, we should look both ways. In other words, before we speak, we should look both inward at ourselves and upward toward God. Sounds like good advice, I’d say.