Stories of Kindness by Brian HeasleyBrian Heasley - 16 Jan 2007

Last month, I was travelling back from the UK when the guy who was taking me to the airport stopped his car, ran into a computer shop and came out with an Xbox 360 and 3 games.  He then handed them to me as a gift for my family.  I was stunned not only because of the great Xbox, but by his wonderful act of kindness and the fact that it was totally random and extreme.  If he had given me the money, I would have spent it on food or put it towards the prayer room.  There is no way I would have thought, “Cool, I have some cash,  I’ll buy an Xbox.”  It was a generous, no strings attached gift.  I had done nothing to deserve it.

I had experienced a random act of kindness.  Wikipedia describes a random act of kindness or (RAoK) as “a selfless act performed by kind people to either help or cheer up a random stranger, for no reason other than to make people happier.  Either spontaneous or planned in advance, RAoKs are encouraged by various communities.”

The phrase is a modification of "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty", coined by Anne Herbert, as well as a play on the phrase "random act of violence".

Many people in our 24-7 community are exploring The Vow of the Mustard Seed Order : to be Authentic (TRUE to Christ), Relational (KIND to people) & Missional (GOSPEL to the nations).
 
“The Lord is gracious and compassionate slow to anger and rich in love”. - Psalm 145: 8

God is so incredibly kind.  His kindness led me to repentance and, in turn, because of his kindness to me I want to express kindness to others.  Expressing kindness is nothing new and something we should all do, yet I believe that it is a growing mandate for the church.

The term “servant evangelism” has been around for years.  Churches and organisations have been working out ways to bless their communities by serving them since the beginning. There are countless projects around the world doing kind things to express God’s love.

Communal acts of kindness to a community are fantastic, but we also need to be personally kind.  We need to be kind at all times, to all people.  It’s simple really, but also can be incredibly hard.  The challenge is to commit random acts of kindness on a daily basis, to live a lifestyle that is kind.

For example: My friend Steve went up to the complaints desk in a supermarket and asked, “Is this where people come to complain?”  The receptionist gave a resigned “yes” and then Steve said “Can I just say I have had wonderful morning in your store, your new CD department is great and I love the wide range of DVD’s you sell”.  The lady was gob smacked and asked him to write it down.

Hannah and Rebecca from Northern Ireland, spent a day hanging out in a car park buying people’s car park tickets for them!  They wrote to me about their time: “The people we tried to help were not used to people giving and they were surprised, this helps depict that we live in a world that is constantly taking rather than giving and that has to change. God enabled us to have the means to give and provided those opportunities; he had a purpose for us being there. We know we can't stop at that level of random acts of kindness and aim to continue with God spurring us on to do more.”
 
Is it just a gimmick?  Do we just do this to make ourselves feel good?  I don’t think so.  I believe it is a beginning, taking it further than a weekly or annual church initiative. It’s about integrating kindness into our lives.

Of course there is always another level - once we overcome the fear of being random, we can ask a really kind question: “Is there anything I can pray with you about?”

This summer we asked this question on the streets of San Antonio, Ibiza.  Over 1200 people said “Yes”  - most would not call themselves practicing Christians.  Our added dimension to acts of kindness was an offer to pray with people.

Since the summer I have been daring people to pray with others.  Not in the church, not only with Christians, but out on the street where we are meant to be.  The ‘street’ for you could be your workplace, your college your school or anywhere you converse with people who don’t yet know God. Heres an excerpt from an email I received from a friend who I accepted my dare:

“There is a lady at work called Dee (not her real name!)and her Dad is really ill in the hospital.  Dee has been travelling backwards and forwards to Coventry because her Dad cannot be transferred to our local hospital yet.  Dee was saying how it just seems to be one thing after another and now the hospital think they have found something else wrong with her Dad and won't tell Dee until they see her on Friday.  Dee has really had enough.  I said, "Can I suggest something?  It might seem a bit strange, but can I pray for you right now?" Dee said, "Yes, that would be really nice!"  So, we prayed and afterwards she said that that was really kind and she really appreciated it!! WOW. It seemed a huge step to actually do this in my workplace but it was totally amazing!

I hadn't asked anyone else and the first person I asked said YES!  Thanks for the dare!! Maybe I'll try it again.”

This is the next level; it’s not praying to convert, it’s praying because we know God listens.  

It’s about kindness: pure simple kindness.  Somewhere in that moment, in that exchange between you and the person you pray with, a Divine Being gets invited into the mix.  God himself gets put on the spot.  It’s over to Him to make something happen.

Pray for people - ask them if you can - try to do it there and then with them.  Keep on doing it and dare to integrate it into your life.  It’s one of the kindest things you can do for them.