Acts of Kindness

“Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” Romans 2:4

Good and evil

Have you ever questioned if God is good? There is little doubt that we live in a fallen world. Sometimes it can feel like there are more bad things than good: damage from the evil others do, sin that has consequences in your own life, and devastation from natural disasters. You may even question why God allows the bad.

I believe that God is perfectly good, so the devastation, evil, and bad in this life are the result of a fallen world (see Garden of Eden in Genesis 3) and God allowing freewill for humankind to choose to love Him (follow Jesus, do good) or reject Him (do bad). In the book of Romans, Paul begins by substantiating the fallen nature of the world, but then, in chapters 2 & 3, he clearly points to God’s plan to redeem this fallen world. In Romans 2:4, he writes that God’s patience, kindness, and a lifetime to decide to repent and believe is a massive illustration of God’s love.

Kindness that leads to repentance

As God reveals himself through kindness, the goal is to draw people to repentance and faith in Jesus. There are miraculous ways God does this. See the life and ministry of Jesus—physical healing (John 5), casting out evil spirits (Luke 4), feeding hungry people (John 6), walking on water (John 6), and resuscitating a man who was dead (John 11). In each of these, the goal was to glorify God and that people might believe (John 11:42).

Church as kindness agents

In the present age, Jesus’s church has a role to play in sharing the kindness of God that leads others to repentance. We can do that through the supernatural gifts like Jesus did (John 14:12), through the means of God’s grace in works of mercy, and showing kindness to others. This is not kindness shown to make us feel better about ourselves. No! It is kindness for the purpose of pointing people to God’s love. It is evangelistic at its heart.

Project 12

Leeds First Methodist Church is undertaking Project 12 this year! Project 12 is a kindness project each month of 2023 to illustrate God’s love and invite others to faith in Jesus and his church.

Our Grow Groups (Sunday school class, Bible study, etc) and Serve Teams (worship band, choir, kids ministry, hospitality, toolbox, etc) will each have a month to plan a kindness project. We’ll also have some churchwide projects that anchor key seasons of evangelistic outreach.

Example projects:

·       Cokes, Waters &/or candy at the park for those walking & playing.

·       Candy bars at Halloween and Christmas parade for parents (in addition to loose candy for kids).

·       Donuts for staff at schools, businesses, town hall, police department, fire station, etc.

·       Bags of candy for workers at Grand River, office complexes, etc.

·       Rolls of quarters at laundry mat.

These are meant to be gestures that people will perceive as kind and are not to compete with any business (no free Cokes at a ballgame with concessions, for example). Each will come with a kindness card attached to point to the love from God and his church.

I pray for the kindness illustrations of God’s love to lead to repentance and believing. Imagine what God might do in the coming years if every person in Leeds received an act of kindness that illustrates God’s love and invites them to faith in Jesus and his church.