A Cry For Grace: Warmth ≠ Weakness

This one has been cookin' for a while...

During Lent, I've not allowed myself to engage on Facebook other than to post from Instagram or to share information related to my work. But I have seen what some others have been posting. And next year, I might have to do an all-out fast. It's brutal out there!

The other day, I saw a pastor friend share his thoughts on a controversial government policy. He was quickly told to "get back to preaching" or something along those lines. I saw another friend share his thoughts on the same policy. He was told that he wouldn't understand the subject if it hit him in the head. Or something to that effect. The worst part? I'm pretty sure that most of the ugly and unnecessarily hurtful comments I'm reading are from professing Christians, likely feeling they are "fighting the good fight."

Believe me, I've posted on social media in ways that I regret. But I know how to apologize and I've tried to be careful not to be motivated by a spirit of bitterness when I share a perspective. If my heart is pure, my goal is not to settle scores.

No two of us are going to agree on everything 100% of the time. Even the closest, dearest friends need to show grace with each other from time to time. I've tried not to be overdramatic, but my heart is broken at the discord I've seen in the Body of Christ. My spirit aches seeing leaders I once held in high esteem resort to low blows and smarmy otherisms when their ideals seem threatened in some way. It's not as though I don't understand. These are challenging times and, again, I've had to check my spirit many times.

Of course I'd love for the whole world to agree with everything I say. But that ain't happenin'! Far more concerning than the disagreement itself is the apparent loss of good faith, the loss of any ability to disagree vehemently without slinging mud and severing precious ties.

When I was a kid, my family had at least one copy of Aesop's Fables. These days, I have multiple copies. In fact, I even travel with one. I love the stories and still, even as an adult, find such wisdom and insight in many of them. (Not all. Some are a bit ridiculous.)

Some say Aesop was just a legend. Others say he was an Ethiopian slave who lived in modern day Turkey. Some say he lived around 600-500 B.C. There's not a lot of certainty about him other than that he was credited with a host of morality tales featuring talking animals, comical humans, and inanimate objects. That's right up my alley!

When I was home recently, I found a small book in a cupboard in my family's laundry room. It was very old and falling apart, but I was delighted to see that it was yet another copy of Aesop's Fables. This edition was printed in 1825—200 years ago!

I quickly turned to see if this edition contained Aesop's "The Wind and the Sun" and sure enough it did! Some of you might know that I released a musical version of this story last year, retitled "The Old North Wind and the Shining Sun" in which the forces of nature compete to prove which of them is the strongest. I'll assume you know the story, and if not, you're welcome to listen to the song version that I've posted below.

What is the meaning of the story of the wind and the sun? It seems that most editions of Aesop's Fables include a short moral explanation at the end of the story. One of my editions says that the lesson is this: Persuasion is better than force.

Well, okay. But I was delighted to find a much deeper analysis in the old edition that I just discovered. I'm including it below (unedited). It's long, but worth the read:

There is something in the temper of men so averse to severe and boisterous treatment, that he who endeavors to carry his point that way, instead of prevailing, generally leave the mind of him, whom he has thus attempted, in a more confirmed and obstinate situation than he found it at first. Bitter words and hard usage freeze the heart into a kind of obduracy, which mild persuasion and gentle language only can dissolve and soften. Persecution has always fixed and riveted those opinions which it was intended to dispel; and some discerning men have attributed the quick growth of Christianity, in a great measure, to the rough and barbarous reception which its first teachers met with in the world. The same may have been observed of our Reformation; the blood of the martyrs was the manure which produced the great Protestant crop, on which the Church of England has subsisted ever since. Providence, which always makes use of the most natural means to attain its purpose, has thought fit to establish the purest religion by this method: the consideration of which may give a proper check to those who are continually endeavouring to root out errors by that very management, which so infallibly fixes and implants all opinions, as well erroneous as orthodox. When an opinion is so violently attacked, it raises an attention in the persecuted party, and gives an alarm to their vanity, by making them think that worth defending and keeping, at the hazard of their lives, which, perhaps, otherwise they would only have admired a while for the sake of its novelty, and afterwards resigned of their own accord. In short, a fierce turbulent opposition, like the north Wind, only serves to make man wrap up his notions more closely about him; but we know not what a kind, warm, Sun-shiny behaviour, rightly applied, would not be able to effect.

Wow.

When I talk about kindness and empathy, I now (unfortunately) feel compelled to clarify that kindness need not be at the expense of strength; and empathy at the expense of truth. Throughout the pages of the Holy Bible are reminders—er, commands to live in honor, preferring one another (Romans 12:10), to operate with grace and humility (Micah 6:8, Colossians 4:6). It's interesting that the concept of empathy has been under fire in some circles, in recent days. I'm well aware that empathy unmoored can become self-centered and, ultimately, damaging. But I also suspect that the pushback could be a mechanism to combat unwelcome cries for social justice. That is another discussion in which I will not engage (as I am not equipped.) I'm speaking here of genuine compassion, plain and simple.

I'd like to think that I am so hungry for truth, so committed to accepting what is right, that I would examine and accept a life-saving word even if the bearer of such truth was loathsome. Does that make sense? But we're human. And I'm not sure I would listen to anything said with a harsh spirit or intentions that seemed questionable.

"To win them, warm them..." Oh, that we would love like Jesus! With warmth, and sometimes with heat (humble urgency), but never with the icy spirit that only causes others to become defensive. I can't tell you how deeply I feel this!

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people... clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." ~Colossians 3:23

I welcome you to listen to the full version of my song below. Take it to heart and share it with your friends. And, if you'd like, download some coloring pictures of the Wind and the Sun for your kids to help bring the message home. This is such an important story!