Learning to Be Kind

My oldest son, Hudson, had a “grandparents luncheon” at his school last week. Sarah and I took our youngest son Silas and decided to go and have lunch with Hudson for this special occasion. It was fun watching all the families gather under popup canopies and cram into the elementary cafeteria to spend an hour with their kids and grandkids. 

Amongst all the activity taking place at the school, one of the teacher’s shirts caught my eye. It was a Ben Bells Project “Be Kind” shirt, which I have seen dozens, if not hundreds of times. But it was the back of the shirt that caught my eye; “At this school we are learning to be kind.”

What struck me about this statement is how much it echoes our walk with Christ. Kindness isn’t niceness or politeness. The kindness we are called to as imitators of Jesus is sacrificial and costly. In Luke’s account of the Beatitudes, Jesus said:

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

- Luke 6:32-36 (ESV), emphasis added

Remember the statement on the back of the shirt, “At this school we are learning to be kind?” As Christians, “learning to be kind” has a double meaning. First, as we experience the kindness of our Master, He rebuilds all the broken places in us. As God “reformats us,” He draws out of us compassion for those we were once hostile towards and gives us His heart and empathy even for those we would have called our enemies in our former life. God teaches us to respond to any situation with kindness, gentleness and grace. 

Second, we “learn” (educate ourselves, grow in our talents and gifts) for the sake of gaining opportunities to show the kindness of God for His glory and our joy. In other words, if I become a doctor, where at one time I may have had the end goal prestige and wealth, I now learn to be a medical professional with the end goal of showing the kindness of Jesus to the sick. If I am a businessman, my end goal is to run my business with integrity and kindness to my employees and perhaps to generate wealth to serve those less fortunate… all for the glory of God and my joy. 

A quote from the Ben Bells Project website says:

“Recent research demonstrates that kindness benefits our physical and mental health, and that recognizing kindness in others increases a person's happiness and satisfaction. But just as solving a calculus problem requires advanced math skills, the challenges of daily life require advanced kindness skills. By focusing on kindness and being intentional in our personal interactions, we can improve our ability to connect.”

I love it when modern research catches up with the Bible. Jesus came to give us life abundantly (John 10:10) and as we are imitators of Him in His kindness towards others, we reap the benefit of experiencing His joy and peace. 

This weekend, we will celebrate God’s kindness to us together with singing Lion and the Lamb to reinforce in our hearts that He who showed us kindness is returning for us and the whole world will bow before Him. Next, we will sing Forever Reign as a bit of a confession that God is the one Who is good and right and that we need to put off our old self to let God shine through us. Finally, we will celebrate that we now live in the victory that Christ has given us and where we were dead in our sin and enemies of God, we are now a new creation and He has adopted us into His family by singing Glorious Day.