Day Twenty-Four
GOODNESS
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
—DESMOND TUTU
If kindness is the action, goodness is the foundation that provides the motive to act with kindness. Unfortunately, our world is ripe with hindrances that short-circuit the flow of goodness. Perhaps we would see an increased frequency of acts of kindness, in both the Church and in society as a whole, if the following barriers were broken down.
Let’s consider some of the barriers and identify strategies to demolishing them:
Barrier #1: Cynicism
When we are cynical of each another, it is nearly impossible for us to choose to extend good will. You need to be intentional about looking for the good, not the bad. Society at large does not encourage us to look for the good. It seems we are naturally wired to amplify the negative. News networks focus on every negative expression of humanity possible—murder, theft, greed, manipulation, sexual deviancy, etc. We are bombarded with constant reminders of why we should not trust people. The answer is to see like God does. Remember, even in our sin and rebellion, God chose us, He loved us, and He demonstrated His lavish kindness toward us.
Barrier #2: Bad Experiences
What gives birth to cynicism in your life? Bad experiences. As a result, you’ll have a tendency to become leery of the trustworthiness of people. You’ll question their motives. You’ll be skeptical because you’ve been let down in the past. You gave money to the homeless person who ended up using your hard-earned dollars to buy drugs. You believed in a leader who let you down. A friend abandoned you, a family member abused you, a coworker betrayed you. The lens through which you see people is formed by your past experiences. Resist broad-brushing humanity based on the flaws of the few. We all have flaws. Yet we also all possess the capacity to do great things! Let’s focus on one another’s great capacities rather than each other’s flaws.
Barrier #3: Identity
When we measure people by their sin, we will respond to them accordingly. And we are hindered in helping people expect to express the goodness of God in their own lives. When we measure people by their capacity to demonstrate goodness instead of how sinful they are, our response strategy changes. In order to call people into new levels of goodness, the worst thing for us to do is focus on the bad, the sin, and the negative. This is not a call to blind ourselves to the harmful and, yes, disastrous effect of sin. At the same time, when we constantly speak to people or talk about people like they are no-good sinners, we are feeding that identity more. We must call them into the goodness they were created to reveal and release.
For those who don’t know Christ yet, their nature is to sin. That makes sense. Even so, we need to see these people and respond to them as men and women created in the image of God—a good God, at that. As we do this, our witness to the world changes. Instead of bringing condemnation, we are calling them up higher into the richer life and showing them a more accurate view of who God is.
For you as a believer, your nature has been changed. You are a new creation. For you to treat your brothers and sisters in the Lord like they are sinners by nature is to speak to the unrenewed, carnal parts of their lives and draw attention away from their status in Christ. Approach them as saints, not sinners. This is far more effective than berating them for not modeling the goodness of God. Instead of speaking to their shortcomings, call out their potential for Christlikeness. We are iron sharpening iron, and vice versa. While we need to call things out, it is absolutely essential that we create a culture of calling each other up.
This will produce a people who truly carry and exemplify the goodness of God in the earth.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How do goodness and kindness work together?
Why is it important for you to be more focused on goodness than the sin in people’s lives (especially those who are Christians)?
What happens when we focus more on a person’s sins and shortcomings than their identity in Christ?
ACTION STEPS
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
—PSALM 34:8
Instead of being quick to criticize, be quick to encourage. In doing so, you are not encouraging sin; rather, you are encouraging people to model the goodness of God. This requires you to believe the best about a person and speak to the seeds of goodness within them.