Be Kind – Romans 2:1-4

1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:1-4 NIV)

Be kind because God has been kind to you – recognize your sin and God’s grace.

Paul wants us to know how kind God is.  God’s kindness brought Jesus to earth to live with us and die for us.  I like the way The Message expresses this point.

Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change. (Romans 2:4 MSG)

God’s kindness has a purpose and that is to encourage us in the direction of becoming more like Jesus.  This is not our natural direction, so it requires a change in thinking and that is what we call repentance.

Be kind because imitating God’s kindness leads to your transformation.

Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change in direction.  When we respond to God with this change it leads toward our transformation into people who look like Jesus.  If an experience of God’s kindness leads us to transformation, then it would make sense that showing kindness to our enemies would open the door to their experiencing repentance and transformation.

To see that God is kind we must recognize that we are sinners and deserve punishment.  The fact that God blesses us with eternal life, something we certainly do not deserve, should lead us into a totally new life.  If we are not progressing toward a new life like Jesus’ life, then we should question whether we understand the extent of God’s kindness.

I found the following chart helpful in understanding what Paul is communicating.

If our perception of our sin is great and our perception of God’s kindness is little or non-existent then we are trapped in guilt and fear.  This often results in hiding which does not resolve our sin situation and leads to further sin.  We are on a downward spiral.

If we do not believe we have a sin issue, we have likely chosen a different god and the most common one to choose is us.  The result is that we pursue whatever pleases us and leads us to further sin and farther away from God.  We are on another downward spiral, but it feels better.

If we believe that God’s kindness is great but have deceived ourselves into thinking our sin issue is small, we do not really appreciate how great God’s kindness really is.  Paul tells us that the result is that we make ourselves judges and our judgement tends to be mean.  We may think we know God when instead we are moving away from Him.  We are in another downward spiral, and it is only our self-righteousness that makes us feel good.

Finally, if we believe that God’s kindness is great and that our need for that kindness is also great then our gratitude for God’s kindness continually grows.  We are headed in a direction that leads to transformation and encourages us to be kind to others.

Be kind because it is God’s strategy for winning the hearts and minds of those who don’t know Him.

I think there is a second purpose for God’s kindness toward us.  God’s desire is that as many people as possible desire to become His children and become like Jesus.  This has caused me to rethink Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45 NIV)

What greater kindness could someone do than to die to save your life?  That is what Jesus did for us.  For those who recognized their need He responded with help and kindness.  This response drew people to Him.  Kindness is attractive and it isn’t complicated.  Kindness communicates that we see others, we recognize how we could help them, and we act to follow through.

Meanness drives people apart, and our current social environment illustrates this.  It is impossible to win hearts and minds with meanness.  We may not win someone’s heart with kindness, but treating people well who are hurting us is a sure way to grow to be more like Jesus.

One of the saddest things about our current political culture is the number of people claiming to be followers of Jesus who have turned to meanness to win.  It would be a tragedy to win the pursuit of power and lose the war for people’s hearts.