Confronting the Sacred Cow Called "Nice!"

It's time to slay another sacred cow! Be nice! The message cried by so many in the American church is to be nice. It's been used by many as an excuse to avoid any sort of conflict and it is destroying our witness. How? Nice seeks to please in order to be accepted. It is self-focused and fear based. Some are more concerned about being nice so as to avoid any form of conflict. Like I said, it is destroying our witness as it pertains to the truth.

You'll be shocked to discover that the word nice is not even found in scripture. Kindness is, but nice is not. There is a huge difference between being nice and being kind.

Kindness on the other hand is very different. It is other-focused and love based. Kindness seeks to do and say what is right for the benefit of others and for the glory of God. Hence, it is the goodness and kindness of God to send a Moses to a Pharaoh to deliver Israel. It is the goodness and kindness of God to raise up those who'll confront evil rather than tolerate (tolerate is another sacred cow and concept we cannot find in the Bible either) evil. 1 John 3:8 says for this purpose was the Son of God manifested to destroy the works of the evil one. We are called to be like Him, right? Was Jesus nice when he confronted the Pharisees and lawyers, or was He nice when He made a whip and turned over the money changers tables?

Nice does not flow well with what Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 where it says, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

But kindness does especially when you discover the real meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words translated kindness.