I know I'm going to raise some hackles with this post, so I'm trying to be up front about it in hopes that it will help reduce the shock and eliminate as much of the offense as humanly possible. KINDNESS, APART FROM CHRIST, IS A HEAPING PILE OF **** Seriously. Kindness makes a horrible substitute for a Savior. It's true. Whatever you want to call it—whether it's altruism, generosity, charity, goodwill, philanthropy, humanitarianism or one of the other 10,000 names we've given it over time—kindness, without Christ, is a heaping pile of poop. Why? Because kindness can't save anyone. Kindness can't earn or restore righteousness. The Bible is very clear that even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). And not just any rags either, but rags which have been used by a woman (or for those playing silly word games, "menstruating people")—during her menstruation cycle. So kindness, albeit it a decent way to measure character, fails when it comes to salvation because no amount of kindness can save a person from God's wrath. THE DECEPTION OF KINDNESS Now, please hear me out. I want to be clear. I am not anti-kindness. I may be pugnacious, and I might have the guilty pleasure of enjoying Nick Lowe from time-to-time, but I don't actually think it's cruel to be kind! In fact, it's cool to be kind. It's right. It's good. It's honorable. It's just. It's moral. But it's not sufficient. And that's the real rub for me on this issue. There seems to be some kind of misconception about kindness and its value to the human soul. We see it all over the place. Yard signs, t-shirts, bumper stickers, coffee cups, and social media posts all leading us towards the same lie. That kindness matters more than anything. So, whether you're a Christian, an atheist—gay, straight or anything in between—the one thing that matters all the time is whether or not you are kind. Yet the Apostle Paul's words in Philippians 3 tell a very different story. In fact, his quest for righteousness crumbled, when he came face to face with Jesus. Paul's self-righteous high castle, which he built brick-by-brick in his lifelong pursuit of righteousness, was destroyed; and he was all the better for it. That's why his words have so much relevance in today's culture of kindness. Let's take a look. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith Phil. 3:7-9 And there you have it. As clear and plain as one could hope for, from a guy whose self-righteousness was utterly destroyed by the eternal power and surpassing worth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us, in his letter to the church, that he counts everything as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ and receiving Christ's righteousness; through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. CHRIST IS THE KEY TO KINDNESS As we already eluded to, righteousness apart from Christ is a sinful pursuit. It's roots are in pride and self-sufficiency, and arrogance, and self-righteousness. Good deeds, done apart from Christ are not good. They may be seen as good and in fact they may be tied to goodness; but they are not good because they can never be good enough. When Jesus was called good, he immediately asked the question: why do you call me good? He then followed up his question with a statement that is so important for us to hear and acknowledge: No one is good--except God alone. (Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19). Any efforts by man to do good fall short of the standard God has created for what it means to be good. This includes kindness. No matter how hard we try to be kind, without Christ's righteousness, our kindness is like a used tampon or menstrual pad. I know we don't like hearing this, but that doesn't make it any less true or necessary. In fact, it might make it even more important or imperative because our sinful hearts try to reject truth and replace it with lies that tickle our ears. OUR KINDNESS CERTAINLY HAS TO COUNT FOR SOMETHING, RIGHT? When it comes to eternity, everything that a man does to earn the favor of God, will burn. And if the only thing a man has is a list of all the kind and compassionate things he did in order to find favor with God, the saddest news of all is that a man's efforts will always fall short of the standard God has for holiness; namely, perfection. Only Christ's finished work on the cross is sufficient for reconciling man to God. Therefore it is a fool's errand to seek to do kind things, if those kind things are not connected to or extensions from Jesus. And not only that, when we look at the things which the culture considers to be kind, we quickly see they often contradict what the Bible says is good and righteous and holy. This is why the Apostle Paul can so confidently say, everything he did was like rubbish (i.e. human excrement) compared to what he received—by grace alone through faith alone—in Jesus Christ. It was not Paul's righteousness or kindness that put him in good standing with God. It was Christ's finished work on the cross. NOT ALL KINDNESS IS CREATED EQUALLY. It's right to be kind, but kindness is only good when it is rooted in the source of every good and perfect thing. God is the source of good and only what God calls good can, in fact, be good. Anything else is an imposter. If kindness is defined or measured based on how it makes a person feel, then validation of kindness is subjective. However, if kindness is measured based on what God calls good, then there is an entirely different standard by which it should be measured. Affirming someone in a decision they are making or a lifestyle they are choosing may leave them feeling validated, supported, and honored. But these feelings—and the actions taken by people to stimulate the feelings in others—should not be confused or conflated with kindness. It is very possible, especially in a world corrupted by sin, for a person to be validated in a choice that dishonors God and themselves; even when it feels good and seems right. In this case, the validation is neither kind nor good. In fact, by the objective standard of God's word, it is more rightly considered cruel and evil. Sin always distorts the truth and often times leaves people feeling good about themselves and their choices, but goodness is not assessed by subjective feelings. It is assessed by the objective truth of God's Word. Our culture wants us to believe and accept that true kindness will produce happy feelings, but the Bible is clear that true kindness produces the fruits of godliness. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. 1:5-8 True kindness will always line up with the truth of God's word. Any efforts at kindness which contradict what God has clearly stated in the Bible or lead a person to sin against God or others should always be seen as evil; regardless how it makes a person feel.
God's word calls us to love one another, and love is patient and kind. However, kindness will never undermine God nor will it lead a person to sin. True kindness will always lead to freedom and freedom is never found in the bondages of sin or enticing others towards spiritual slavery and death. Now, for those who are still hellbent on making kindness the chief end of man, let me leave you with this thought. A Christian can, indeed, come into agreement that kindness is man's highest aim, as long as he first acknowledges that any acts of kindness must be rooted in man's primary objective in life; namely, to glorify God and fully enjoy him forever. This can only be accomplished when a man chooses what is morally good over what his culture tells him is kind. True kindness is not the absence of feelings but rather the presence of a fuller joy. A joy which is rooted in Christ, and never cedes truth in exchange for trite accommodations like acceptance, tolerance, or celebrations of sin; which always makes promises it can't keep at the expense of a hope which could never be lost.
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