In one of my favorite CS Lewis books, That Hideous Strength, a band of rather old-fashioned counter-cultural misfits confronts the "N.I.C.E.", an institute of progressive thinking, in a battle for control of the world. The book led to my disdain for the word "nice". You can be "nice" and also be cruel to the poor and you can be a "nice guy" and not love your wife. I now use the word "kind" for people who are open-hearted and loving and I use the words "bent" and "hollow" for some who used to be described as "nice".
Being nice is seductive because it is seen as a key to success in our culture. Nice people don’t flip over the tables in the temple and they certainly don’t like being seen in public with prostitutes, corrupt tax officials, the mentally-ill, or lepers.
But that’s a bit too dramatic for us to consider, right? I mean, most of us are “progressive” enough to spend time with those kinds of people – at least on weekends during an outreach, right?
What’s amazing to me about Jesus is that he didn’t plan to spend time with these people; he just did it. He let them interrupt his life with their problems. Many of you have probably heard me harp on the concept of Margin – the idea that just as a page has space around the text, so our lives need space with time and money with which to love those in need – when they need it. I’ll be the first one to admit that I struggle with this – especially the time part of it.
What made me think about all this is my MBA program. Here everyone is focused on success – monetary success. And guess what, most of my colleagues don’t care too much about how much time and money they have to love others. Does this shock you? Probably not since I think it’s almost the same in most quarters of our society … but just more pronounced here. It's like the Rich Young Ruler. He was a pretty amazing guy ... kept all of the commandments, but his story illustrates how success can distract us from God. You don't have to be wealthy or love money to avoid God. Ask GK Chesterton who once said, "When a Man stops believing in God he doesn¹t then believe in nothing, he believes anything." This includes belief that all nice people go to Heaven and that all dogs go to Heaven.
I ask you to join me in looking through the gospels to see when Jesus planned to help or heal or teach someone and when he was interrupted. Then let’s try to make ourselves available with our time and money to do the same.
Being nice is seductive because it is seen as a key to success in our culture. Nice people don’t flip over the tables in the temple and they certainly don’t like being seen in public with prostitutes, corrupt tax officials, the mentally-ill, or lepers.
But that’s a bit too dramatic for us to consider, right? I mean, most of us are “progressive” enough to spend time with those kinds of people – at least on weekends during an outreach, right?
What’s amazing to me about Jesus is that he didn’t plan to spend time with these people; he just did it. He let them interrupt his life with their problems. Many of you have probably heard me harp on the concept of Margin – the idea that just as a page has space around the text, so our lives need space with time and money with which to love those in need – when they need it. I’ll be the first one to admit that I struggle with this – especially the time part of it.
What made me think about all this is my MBA program. Here everyone is focused on success – monetary success. And guess what, most of my colleagues don’t care too much about how much time and money they have to love others. Does this shock you? Probably not since I think it’s almost the same in most quarters of our society … but just more pronounced here. It's like the Rich Young Ruler. He was a pretty amazing guy ... kept all of the commandments, but his story illustrates how success can distract us from God. You don't have to be wealthy or love money to avoid God. Ask GK Chesterton who once said, "When a Man stops believing in God he doesn¹t then believe in nothing, he believes anything." This includes belief that all nice people go to Heaven and that all dogs go to Heaven.
I ask you to join me in looking through the gospels to see when Jesus planned to help or heal or teach someone and when he was interrupted. Then let’s try to make ourselves available with our time and money to do the same.
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