Try a Little Kindness!

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.”

Joseph Joubert

Okay, I’m as confused as everyone else on why there was a buying frenzy on toilet paper. Yet, I totally understand why all of the frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, hot dogs and other easy to cook items were scooped up.

  Once the announcement was made about schools being closed, many parents reacted. This was the thinking of many: “I have to go to work. My kids have to eat while I’m working. The only thing that I feel comfortable with my kids cooking is pizza or chicken nuggets and the only thing my kids will eat without me standing over them is pizza or chicken nuggets.”

  It made total sense to me. We’re in the midst of a crisis. This is the Pearl Harbor of this generation. It’s unchartered territory for the whole world. It’s a time for compassion, acceptance, and boatloads of patience. We’ve never been this way before. Every step forward is new and unknown.

  It’s like waiting for a hurricane. You don’t know what category it is going to be. The worst is a Category 5. Listening to the media, you’d think that this one is going to be a Category 50. You don’t know when or where it will make landfall. You don’t know what it will destroy or potentially how many it will kill, and you don’t know how long it is all going to last. So how can we show compassion in such tumultuous times?

  Give others the benefit of the doubt. Imagine that I see a woman buying 10 pizzas at Walmart. It’d be easy to think that she’s selfish and hoarding. What I may not know is that she’s a single Mom with a couple of kids at home. In spite of all the isolation recommendations, she still has to go to her factory job or they’ll end up on the street.

  Protagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher said, “Man is the measure of all things.” In spite of the fact that he was wrong, too many have altered his statement to: “I am the measure of all things.” We evaluate what others should do or shouldn’t do by what we do. That’s arrogant. We jump to conclusions, yet rarely have all of the facts. Our limited knowledge though doesn’t keep us from pontificating or bragging about what we’d do or even what great, kind people we are. We’re a nation of armchair quarterbacks and second guessers. The only true standard of moral right and wrong is the Bible, God’s Word. Most of our decisions are subjective ones, and with a crisis such as this, with very limited knowledge.

  Clearly, it was immoral for the Chinese government to suppress the warnings of this epidemic. It barely made the news and by most has now been forgotten. Early on though, Dr. Li Wenliang contracted the virus while working at Wuhan Central Hospital. He did the right thing and what a medical professional is supposed to do and sent out a warning to fellow medics back in December. But Chinese police told him to stop “making false comments,” then pushed forward with plans for Chinese New Year. That’s immoral. Many are dying because of their evil deception.

  Yet, how to now respond to this is difficult and subjective. No one, as far as I know, believes the virus can be stopped. The best hope is to slow it down so it won’t overwhelm our medical resources. Unless someone is clearly violating a moral right or wrong, because we’re all sorting through how to respond, we should graciously give others the benefit of the doubt.

  Be gracious rather than oversensitive. Someone recently was a bit offended that I wouldn’t shake their hand. When we were in Taiwan two years ago, I was surprised at how many wore face masks as part of normal life. Because this is new and unknown, people are frightened and stressed. You may have noticed that people are driving more aggressively and more in a hurry than normal. More are on their phones in stores, checking in to make sure that they don’t miss something that’s needed. Or, to get suggestions on alternatives when the item they were to buy is unavailable.

  Fear results in a drop in normal people skills. Clerks in the stores are tired and often have been verbally nuked by stressed-out shoppers. People are worried about their jobs and finances. Look at most people’s faces when you go out and you’ll see the strain and stress. Rather, than being self-focused, this is an opportunity for us as believers to live out Philippians 2:3-4: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”

  In the midst of scaremongering, it’s time for caremongering. Scaremongering with this crisis is a huge problem. Let’s be part of turning that around. Facebook, texting, and emails are lower forms of communication when people are isolated. Harried parents with children at home need someone just to listen, not necessarily give solutions. Those who are isolated and frightened need to hear a caring, kind voice. A short five-minute conversation to touch base and see how someone is doing can make a huge difference.

  Share hope, not despair. The only way to move from despair to hope is to look up, turning our focus from problems to our loving Heavenly Father. Instead of being anthropocentric, we must be theocentric. God doesn’t change. He’s already taken care of our biggest problem – sin. The One Who sent His Son, Jesus, to die in our place, and raised Him back to life by His omnipotent power, can be trusted with our future. We serve a mighty God Who is faithful.

  Constant remembrance is a necessary habit for the people of God, particularly during times of distress. It’s not enough though to remember what God has done, we are to be sharers of His hope. It’s the greatest act of compassion we can give a hopeless world. We know that all those who know Jesus will get Home before dark. We must share that hope. Our friends and family members who are hopeless can have that same hope if they will trust in the only One who died to give us hope and security.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.