The replacement of kindness

There is an inching away from Truth. I see the embodiment of kindness being replaced by a veneer of niceness. Our culture is admittedly heating up. People seem to be sitting on the edge of their seats to jump up angry and accusatory. I can’t get away from the culture, but I can be careful to wash the dust off myself regularly. As I am traveling through this temporary realm, I must be intentional to wash my feet and clean them from the inevitable dust and grime that accumulate there. This world is not responsible to tell me the truth, apply proper context or enable my growth. In fact, the world as a system works the very opposite. I must deliberately find time with my Father and His word to correctly calibrate my mind and more readily recognize His Way. I can understand the temptation of being nice rather than enduring the heartache that comes with being kind. Nice allows me to move along with fewer disruptions and confrontations. Kindness means confronting the lies of the culture and being a beacon of light and truth. This can cause discomfort and heated interactions.

I have read and heard of many people walking away from their previously held Christian faith. They often cite something in the Bible that they couldn’t understand, or couldn’t accept. They seem to accuse God of being *insert cultural buzz word here*. This realization breaks down all their faith and belief and then they’re off to eat with sinners ‘just like Jesus.’ I get it, to some extent, and while I have found that I am less and less certain about things the older I get, I also believe the mind of Christ is so completely “other” that I must hang in with the transformation process. Not everything I perceive in my life is truth. It is only in the Word that I find absolute truth, and it sometimes takes a moment to incorporate the Truth when it seems like I live in a web of lies.

A light bulb moment happened this week as I came to the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13. Those wise virgins wouldn’t share their oil and the foolish virgins had to leave their vigil and missed the coming of the bridegroom. They were locked out and cast away for their foolishness of being unprepared. Those wise ladies sure were mean! They would have been harshly judged by our current culture since we no longer value wisdom. Our culture would rather see all 10 ladies shut out together, than for half to make it to the party, and the other half be condemned. However, Jesus starts this parable by saying, “…the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps…” By the end of the story, the ten have been divided. Wisdom has been assigned value in the kingdom, and allowed a way into the marriage feast, and yet the other women were judged foolish and missed their chance. The kingdom of heaven makes distinctions, and it isn’t based on niceness. Had the wise virgins shared their oil, they would have jeopardized their chance at greeting the bridegroom and entering the marriage feast themselves. May we have ears to hear.

Then, onto the parable of the master and the giving of differing amounts of his possessions to various servants in Matthew 25:14-30. Jesus starts this parable with “For it will be like…” still talking of the kingdom of heaven. Sit up and take note, because the master of this story isn’t very nice, either. When he returns, the master takes the poor, scared servant with the least amount of possessions in his care and basically validates the servant’s view of himself as harsh, harvesting and gathering crops that aren’t even his! The servant is cast out, and those little bit of possessions are given to the one who has the most: how unfair! Our current culture would say the master should be deposed and overthrown while all the goods were divided equally among rich and poor so that no one feels left out or less than. That would be the nice thing to do. Again, the master in this story makes a distinction. And he doesn’t allow for his own character to be changed. He admits he is who he is, and it was up to the servant to then do something worthwhile with the possessions he was given. The master even would have allowed the bare minimum of simply drawing interest with the bankers. The master used this test to see who was faithful in what he had been given, and since it was the master’s resources, he can decide how to dole them out. This is just truth. He then rewarded the one who had the most with even more. While one servant hated and feared the master, the others seem to have appreciated and accepted his rule.

Now, onto the last part of Matthew 25:31-46. I believe this scene is what ties the whole chapter together. The seemingly cruel stories of the first part of the chapter should prepare our hearts and minds to receive this awful, final story. There will be a day when the Ultimate Judge comes and separates the sheep from the goats, which can be hard to distinguish to the untrained eye. The basis of judgment seems to be how nice we are to others. But is that really the standard? Not at all. The other stories show: we should be looking for Christ and His return (parable of the virgins), and we should also be investing the resources he has given us for mighty returns on the investment (parable of the talents). Finally, in this story, we see that as we love the Lord with all of our hearts, souls, minds we will then love our neighbor as ourselves. This requires wisdom and resources! And the wisdom that comes from turning our eyes onto Him will grant us the knowledge and discernment to walk according to His life in us, which becomes the resources we need for our particular ministry. It’s like securing my own oxygen mask before offering oxygen to anyone else. To a gasping, panicky, sputtering world this is maddening. It may look like delay, or ignorance, (how mean!) but I know the truth. All the works done in my own strength are burned up! If I turn my back on looking to Christ and begin to focus on all the problems of this world, I may miss Him! The judgment is not a rigid prescription of being responsible to alleviate every single need we see. The judgment is based on the wisdom that comes from looking for and seeing Christ, and then completing the works He has planned for each one of us uniquely.

I am prepared for my wisdom and kindness to be misunderstood by this world, for they live according to a different system. What has been shocking to me is how sincere, well-intentioned children of God (my brothers and sisters) have eagerly grabbed at faint and wispy niceness and believe this is a commandment of the Word. I have experienced and heard of many instances where Christians have insisted on what appears sweet and Jesus-y, but is really a cover for wanting to remain comfortable. I think comfort may be the idol that has enslaved many within our current era. Yet, when I read these stories in Matthew 25, I see loads of discomfort as distinctions are made, punishment is commanded and ultimately in a final judgment of thoughts and motives. This may make me uncomfortable, and yet, this is Truth. I must not make apologies or shy away from what my Father and Savior has said about Himself.

Appearances aren’t everything

I want to walk in the Truth, and I am learning that this will cause me to be misunderstood by many. However, I have absorbed Psalm 141 as beautiful words for the struggle. Within the passage, verse 5 is one I come back to over and over.

"Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness;
  let him rebuke me--it is oil for my head;
  let my head not refuse it.
Yet my prayer is continually against their evil
      deeds."

When I find myself in circumstances that make me uncomfortable, I choose to trust my Father. I know Him. He is faithful and true. He deserves reverence and awe. He has all dominion and authority. If you don’t know Him, He can easily be misunderstood. He’s been made out to be a taskmaster, a cruel and fickle deity. Instead of trying to get my own idea of God all smooth and polished and shoved in a pretty little box, I must look at these sharp corners and overwhelmingly large and inexplicable pieces and allow myself to stretch and change and transform to continue to accept Him as He really is. The Truth.

He has given us so many words about who He is, and I diligently search these, so that He can search me. He is molding me and making me into His living temple. Further, Romans 2:4 says God’s kindness is meant to lead us to a change of mind. This change of mind saves the soul and awakens the spirit. It gives us eyes of faith to see our Father as He really is, waking unto eternal life. This is kindness. On the other hand, I have seen niceness allow people to stay on the road leading to punishment and condemnation for eternity. If being nice means maintaining comfort and refusing Truth, those who believe the lies are doomed to destruction. May we be kind, wise, and resourceful representatives of the Truth, even if the kindness is perceived as severe.