Yesterday specifically, and all week really, I felt the Lord increasing my awareness to the people I encounter daily. I often travel for work, and had the opportunity to fly back to KC yesterday. As I was walking through the airport, watching the multitudes of people passing by, I was reminded that the Lord loves each and everyone of them. Last night, my honey and I went out to eat and sat at the bar (it was either that or wait 45 minutes to eat) and sat very close to people on either side of us. I felt encouraged to chat briefly with both parties, just being kind and friendly. I was reminded while we were sitting there that the Lord loved them all, the guy and girl with the orange dyed hair who liked hockey, the young man from Romania in KC for his first time. It doesn't seem like much, but scripture says that kindness leads to repentance (Rom 2:4), and repentance means changing our mind, and changing our actions.
What if we all as Christians. as representatives of Christ, were kind to everyone we met, whether they looked like fellow Christians or not, whether they had tattoos, or orange dyed hair, whether they were dressed poorly or obviously wealthy? I wonder what the impact would be if Christians become known for kindness rather than being labeled as judgmental? One of my favorite authors, Graham Cooke, says that God is the kindest person he has ever met. If that is the case, than as His representatives, we should be too. If we were kind to everyone, one wonders if others would experience repentance, changing the way they thought about Christians, about the church and about the Lord?
Being very honest, I tend to be very judgmental in my first reaction to people, I immediately classify people, affixing labels to them before I even meet them. I classify people by how they dress, how the look, how they act, by their posture, by their interaction with others around them. I am so quick to make judgement calls that I often never take the opportunity to even interact, to introduce myself, or to find out anything about them. In not meeting them or interacting with them, I am effectively putting the light that is in me under a bushel basket (Matt 5:15) and that is sad.
When I think of the Lord and His ministry on earth, it seems that He always interacted and really met the people He encountered. I can't imagine the love that God has for each of us, being carried by Christ in His earthly ministry. I am confident that Jesus was so in touch with the Father, so in-step with His heart and thoughts, that as He walked among the people He was constantly in love with those around Him. He wasn't kind in an anonymous sort of way, but really interacted with people, healed them, spoke to them, entrusted truth to them. He loved people when he looked at them (Mark 10:21) and He was kind to them. He gave them the chance to interact and come to know their Messiah at a personal level. We are invited to do the same.
I am reminded of my Dad, for the most consistent thing I have heard about him was how kind he was to everyone. So many people at the funeral and wake commented on his kindness. That was the type of man that he was, he was always interested in people, taking interest in their lives, talking with random strangers we met when we went on trips, asking questions that showed his interest in them as a person. That is definitely one way I want to emulate my dad.
Finally in thinking about kindness, it one thing that people will generally always receive. When we extend kindness, people lower their defenses because they recognize that you are not there to judge them or hurt them. Kindness says that we value them as a someone significant, as someone worthy of our attention and care.
Paul says it well in his letter to the Colossians 3:12 NIV: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."
Lord, help me to put on these clothes today, that I might represent You well. I guess you could call these character traits my dress code. Help me Lord, I want to be more like You every day.
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