Not Nice But Kind

I saw the cruel and hate-filled image and my heart was filled with anger. However, when the man who posted the misogynistic cartoon commented that “he hugely enjoyed it,” my anger turned to rage! And all of the ugliness I saw in that disgusting picture now became a caricature of the man who “hugely enjoyed it.” But it didn’t stop there, because as my heart became filled with anger and rage, I could almost feel the cruel and hate-filled spirit that I had seen in the picture enter my own heart and seek an expression towards both the so-called artist and the man who posted it. By the way, I had just finished leading a retreat on the topic of kindness.

Now that I was full of anger and rage I had to decide what to do with it. First of all, I knew I didn’t want to be nice. The word nice means to be “foolish or stupid.” It comes from a Latin word nescius, meaning “ignorant.” I by no means wanted to be nice. I didn’t want to be ignorant of the source of this evil cruelty. I reminded myself that my “battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). No! In order to unmask and deal with the true evil behind the hate-filled image I could not be nice.

I had to make a choice about what to do with my raging anger. I acknowledged that I was no better than the artist who drew the disgusting picture or the man who expressed his pleasure in it. That was my starting place. But I didn’t stop there, because by the grace God and the power of the Holy Spirit I can choose to "put off  my old self with it’s practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of my creator." Humbled, I cried out to Jesus for help.

My prayer was answered not with ignorant niceness, but with the strength of kindness. The sword of His word was placed in my hand. The word of God that has the power to teach, rebuke, correct and train me in what is right. My prayer was a plea that God would show me how to wrestle with not only the cruelty and hatred I found around me, but also with the cruelty and hatred exposed within me.

I realize that because of the kind intention of God’s will He had drawn me to Himself. In drawing me to Himself I was to be consecrated to Him, living my life sustained by His love. In other words, I was to be different, set apart for His service. In answer to my cry for help I heard the words of Colossians 3:12, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Please don’t mistake my response for being nice. This is war. But my warfare isn’t with flesh and blood.