Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is kind. Greg Boyd highlights kindness as a way of life that can revolutionize the world in which we live. He also calls us to slow down so that we make space in our lives for being kind and therefore live in love with one another.
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A Kindness Revolution
• Greg Boyd
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Love is kind. On the surface, kindness may appear quite trivial, but it is far from passive niceness. The word in the Greek means something like active benevolence, where one goes out of their way to benefit another. To be kind is to use whatever strength, privilege and resources we have to bless someone.
Greg highlights four points about this trait of love.
- The Importance of Kindness. This is an all or nothing part of the Christian life. If we are not kind, we are like a noisy gong. We are without value. Since kindness defines love, it is essential to our walking in the way of Christ. In fact, one of the primary reasons the early church experienced such radical growth was because of their counter-cultural kindness
- Kindness is a Heart Posture. To be kind is more than a choice. It is a stance of our inner being. It’s a way of existing. While we might express kindness in planned ways (e.g., financial support or volunteering), most expressions of kindness are opportunistic. They occur randomly when situations arise. Kindness is given through a million little acts that are often not recognized.
- Kindness Requires Slowing Down. We are less likely to notice an opportunity to show kindness if we are hurried. Furthermore, if we are constantly on the run, we are less willing to stop and show kindness even when we do notice. The story of the Good Samaritan illustrates this point. The Levite and the priest were too busy getting to important things, religious activities, to stop and help the beaten man. But a Samaritan stopped and he is the neighbor here. He has the space in his life to show kindness to someone in need.
- Kindness is a Revolution. To make this point, Greg share a spoken word. Here is what he shared with us:
Hide Extended SummaryWe live in a world
where screaming voices drown love’s whispers,
where politics spits venom like it’s sport,
where neighbors pass each other on familiar sidewalks
without a nod, without a smile, without a word—
ghosts in plain sight.
Because everybody’s got a full plate,
a deadline to beat,
a hunger to grab, a trophy to chase,
a this or a that to clutch and consume.
Hurry has become our national anthem.
And in the stampede—
we don’t notice the single mom, juggling groceries and children,
her face etched with stress.
We don’t notice the old man at the gas station
counting pennies as if each one carries the weight of his dignity.
We don’t notice the quiet despair of tired souls collapsing in the house next door.
But kindness—
Kindness doesn’t need a stage.
Kindness doesn’t crave a headline,
a spotlight, a soundbite,
a like-click or a vote.
Kindness lives in a million little acts
that no one tweets,
that no one records,
but heaven sees.
A door held open.
A smile that lingers.
A meal quietly shared.
A listening ear in a world gone deaf.
A gentle hand lifting a wounded bird.
A garden planted—food and beauty—respite for God’s littlest brilliant creations.
Small gestures? Perhaps.
Insignificant? Never.
Because whispers of kindness can silence the roar of cruelty.
And sparks—tiny sparks—can set a forest ablaze.
Kindness multiplies. It moves. It spreads.
It infects the air like a holy pandemic
you can’t help but breathe in—
and you find yourself changed.
So what if—
What if the revolution America needs,
and the world aches for,
is not won with sharper arguments,
or bigger megaphones,
or scapegoating,
or propaganda,
but with softer hands,
steadier hearts,
and eyes that look opportunities to serve?
And what if the greatest protest
is to love when hate is easier,
to bless when cursing feels natural,
to stand gentle when cruelty shouts loud?
What if mercy proves stronger than malice,
and tenderness outlasts greed?
You know this.
You’ve felt it.
You’ve been stopped cold by a kindness you didn’t expect,
and it changed you—
maybe for a moment,
maybe forever.
So come.
Put down your hurry.
Lay aside your spite.
Step into the quiet rebellion
against the normalcy of meanness,
the wicked default of Babylon.
Come, fix your eyes on Jesus.
Come, join us in the kindness revolution.
Sermon Series: Love Is, Wholehearted
Downloads & Resources
Audio File
Study guide
Transcript
Group Study Guide
A Kindness Revolution: An Invitation (spoken word PDF)
The MuseCast: September 23
Focus Scripture:
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1 Corinthians 13:1-7
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
6 thoughts on “A Kindness Revolution”
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"Thank you all the way from Oregon. I deeply appreciate being shepherded by Pastor Greg and everyone else on the panels. You are a rare find in the church nowadays. Tackling tough questions with humility and a kingdom perspective. It has been life changing for me in such tumultuous times."
– Heather, from Oregon
Greg, your AI coached spoken word blew me away!
I wanted to expand on:
Point three: kindness requires us to slow down.
WAITING, holding thoughts captive, can cause discomfort, powerlessness and uncertainty.
BIOLOGY and SOCIETY [nurture nature] are significant contributors for our impatience, working against us, in our tolerance for waiting.
BIOLOGY: Your brain is wired to deliver dopamine to four specific dopaminergic neural network synapse transmitter pathways governing your ability to regulate emotions, understand others’ perspectives, build trust, and engage in cooperative decision-making.
Little pods of dopamine travel from these central parts of your brain to neurons giving messages how react, respond and feel and then there is this gap with receptors on the other side that take these messages and send signals to other parts of your body telling you what to do, how to feel etc.
When this happens in your brain because of delays in gratification, fulfillment of your desires or expectations what happens is it reduces the release of this dopamine to the gap receptors making the WAITING feel emotionally unsatisfying.
Because of this chemical reaction and physiologically this time actually feels slower, a phenomena called time dilation, and we are more aware of every passing second as it amplifies the pain of waiting forming the biological basis for our DISCOMFORT.
Add to this in our SOCIETY instant messaging, quick service dieting, same day shipping real time updates of current events, sports, people of interest in the world have all conditioned us to expect immediacy in our culture.
The customer service climate in our first world culture has acclimated us to comfort and convince, something we were not initially designed for.
You were made to handle way more than what we experience right now in terms of difficulty in the world.
This has caused us to think that getting what we want as an entitlement and unexpected delays conflict with our expectations.
With WAITING there are two factor timelines the amount of TOLERANCE and amount of TIME however there are two different ways we can graph the chart.
1: Expected over time tolerance increases with anticipation.
2: Unexpected quickly accelerates to frustration causing us to settle for something that feels good but misses the mark – SIN – a toxic version of what we really desire – which leaves us still WAITING with increasing, losing hope, DISCOMFORT.
Sometimes we experience the worst unexpected thing that could happen in the moment and someone who does not know the whole story, the discomfort, how long we have been waiting, the season, where we are at in the moment – says you know what the bible says:
Romans 8:28 “God works all things together for good…stop”
ESV version: And we know that for THOSE WHO LOVE GOD [agape community versus go to church on Sunday building crowd] all things work together for GOOD, for those who are CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
Romans 8:29 For those whom he FOREKNEW he also PREDESTINED to be CONFORMED to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
From prior comments on Greg’s sermon “Hearing God’s Voice”:
The Templeton Foundation supported the “Penrose-Hameroff” theory proposing that consciousness might arise from quantum processes, POSIBILITIES, occurring in the brain’s microtubules, suggesting that these neurons gap receptor structures act as a form of a quantum computer, with VIRTUAL PARTICLES playing a role in this process.
Revelation 12: 4 The dragon’s tail swept a THIRD of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. [Consider a THIRD as EVENTUAL HUMANS “God whom he FOREKNEW he also PREDESTINED to be CONFORMED”]
Adding never noticed this before but 1 Corinthians 3:4-15 I would argue we humans are all PREDESTINED to given talent say sos and adding:
Greg’s TRITARIAN WARFARE THEODICY (4) and therefore our potential for morally responsible goodness TRUTH must be PROPORTIONATE to our potential for morally responsible evil LIES. [Points back to the end of my 2nd comment on Cedrick’s Sermon Overcoming Selfishness”
With God GOOD does NOT = comfortable but CONFORMED Romans 12:2
God cares much more about who you are becoming, your future self [GOOD or HARD] on the other side of waiting, then how you are feeling at the moment!
Your writings have been a great kindness to me; they helped pull me out of great despair and I would say that your time was well spent. In turn I believe that God has opened up doors for me to make a difference in the lives of others who have almost given up on Christ because their image of God is so distorted by, for lack of a better term, cultural Christianity. Thank you.
You’ve got to “side” with God, Jesus Christ. If one side hates you and hates Christ and behaves in that fashion what are you supposed to think? There is no equivalence between the “sides”. One “side” is violent, in word and deed. It’s not the “side” that Charlie Kirk was championing. They, one “side” gunned down a good man in view of his wife and children because of their cultural hate for Christ and Charlie Kirk. Don’t be afraid to say it – that “side” needs to hear it – from you Greg Boyd.
I was hoping to hear something here that would refrain from the both “sides” need to tone it down. Nope. I kind of expected that at Woodland Hills, which is why I no longer attend.
(from Greg)
Hi Craig,
I want to share my heart with you, brother. Do you truly believe that Democrats, as a whole, “hate Christ” and are “violent in word and deed,” while Republicans all love Jesus and are never violent? From where I stand, there is plenty of ugliness on both sides. Yet I also believe the majority of people in both parties genuinely abhor violence and lament the hostility that’s tearing our country apart.
In the same way, while Charlie Kirk professed faith in Christ and did many good things, a closer look reveals troubling words and positions—like saying the civil rights movement was a mistake—that many would understandably view as racist.
My concern is this: isn’t the church called to rise above this political rancor and the violence it can breed, on both sides? How can we faithfully display the uniqueness of God’s kingdom if we tie ourselves too closely to any earthly party or agenda?
Craig, as your brother in Christ, I gently challenge you to consider the possibility that, like so many of us, you may have been swept along by the very polarization that I spoke against two Sundays ago. Jesus was clear: His Kingdom is “not of this world.”
With love and blessing,
Greg
—posted by Emily from the Communications Team
I’d like to add to my prior comment taken from ideas from Idleman’s book “Every Thought Captive”, Ortberg’s “Steps”, and Crabb’s book “Inside Out”.
In the SEASONS OF WAITING my prior comment focused on the 1st season DISCOMFORT [awkwardness, disappointment, frustration, fatigue] ending with what’s on the other side, YOUR FUTURE SELF, being worth the WAIT in shifting you from frustration to anticipation.
I’d also like to add from the Steven Norris, not sure a wild guess but just possibly he is the Director of Discipleship and Mentoring at Grace School of Theology, comment CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY might well be a great replacement to my prior comment verse as now modified to:
Romans 8:28 ESV version: And we know that for THOSE WHO LOVE GOD [AGAPE COMMUNITY versus CULTURAL CHRISTIANITY] all things work together for GOOD, for those who are CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
Thank you Steve, I believe this is more than just a lack of a better term so thank you for your KINDNESS!
2nd in the seasons of WAITING is POWERLESS [nothing we can do, beyond our control, stuck].
Our neurological pathways are hardwired, forming over time, to believe the law of “cause and effect” teaches and reminds us we can INFLUENCE and CONTROL ACTIONS and OUTCOMES as the 2nd being the consequence of the 1st.
If____ then____, for better but also for worse, leading to could a, should a, would a replays have you ever been there or is it just me?
CONFUSION and FRUSTRATION in our waiting comes when the actions and behaviors we did take that may have worked for many other folks in various circumstances, as they’ve often told us, didn’t work for us ending clinically as the most common form of unhappiness a feeling of, DISCONTENT, not being where you planned to be.
When POWERLESS and DISCONTENT overlap there is a danger zone where we start to experience things that cause us to act, behave or think in ways that we would not normally do, [DISCOURAGEMENT DISILLUSIONMENT DEFEATED], a what’s wrong with me or a giving up or if they won’t I won’t do loop extreme leading to applying the [3 Ds] to all future “cause and effect” processing leading to doing things we REGRET.
What do you do when there is nothing you can do?
Paul was in this place, WAITING on his trial, when he wrote the 4 prison letters to encourage other Christians.
Philippians 4:10-13 “I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.”
KINDNESS towards the [3 Ds] of a person possibly 1 step away from their greatest REGRET
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have PLENTY. I have LEARNED THE SECRET of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
DISCONTENTMENT does not only come to people in need. An interesting read: Michael Easter “The Comfort Crisis” Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self
I’m just a wild and crazy guy! A little scary! John Eldredge’s book “Wild at Heart” Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul
God designed us to seek out adventure but, somewhere between childhood and the struggles of yesterday, most folk lose sight of those dreams: connects well with the ending of my 1st comment on Cedrick’s sermon “Overcoming Selfishness” ….CHILDREN’S IMAGINATION to LIES – ORIGINAL SIN”
Adding to comfort crisis: from my prior comment on this sermon “The customer service climate in our first world culture has acclimated us to comfort and convince, something we were not initially designed for”.
John Ortberg recommends a book “The Tech-Wise Family” Everyday STEPS for Putting Technology in its Proper Place. Wonder comes from opening your eyes wider NOT bringing the screen closer.
It’s kind of Taleb tinker idea, trial and error creativity, over academia. We are meant not just for thin, virtual connections but for visceral real, skin in the game, connections to one another in this fleeting temporary MIST, and infinitely beautiful and worthwhile life.
THE SECRET: DEFYING the for worse part of the LAW OF “CAUSE AND EFFECT” external internal cycle, leading to POWERLESS and DISCONTENT, even IF circumstances don’t change externally OUTSIDE something is changing INSIDE.
“I can do all things through him who gives me strength” Another you know what the bible says however rather [If CHRIST then ____]
No matter how many times you quote this verse it is unlikely you will ever hit a 95 mph fast ball! Adding I don’t remember for sure but I don’t believe Greg’s superman cape ever worked for him.
Let’s backup: Philippians 4:6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done”.
There are times that you are in need however you also have so much!
The secret to contentment [INSIDE} is the discipline of declaring our dependence [OUTSIDE]
Gratitude, depression and anxiety CANNOT coexist!
Back to “Rudy” There is a God and it’s NOT me! You are POWERLESS, always in need, however GOD IS NOT!
“Then you will experience God’s PEACE, which EXCEEDS anything we can UNDERSTAND. His PEACE will GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS as you live IN Christ Jesus”. – CONTENTMENT-
What leads to destructive PATTERNS are destructive desires and thoughts and when we declare our dependence on God and say I can’t but YOU can; IF CHRIST than ____ to guard our heart and mind it leads to CONTENTMENT.
Disappointment with God’s tends to cause us to run from God rather than towards him.
From the “The Comfort Crisis” a Harvard study was done with rats placing them in water to swim for 15 minutes until they drowned with a few exceptions being removed for a brief period and then placed back in to now last up to 60 hours.
What they learned is that in seasons of prolonged waiting when you learn there is somebody who cares, somebody who is watching, somebody you can depend on to NOT let you down its powerful!
Isaiah 40:31 but those who WAIT upon THE LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Phillip Yancey’s book “Disappointment with God” The only thing worse that disappointment with God is disappointment without God
God’s PEACE FILLED CONTENTMENT is worth the WAIT.
The final in the seasons of WAITING is UNCERTAINTY [not sure, fear, anxiety, spikes in cortisol]
Questions it the WAITING: HOW___? WHEN___? EVER___?
Why doesn’t God do something? NOW! It’s working for others around me and they aren’t even good people like me having done ALL I can.
So: Is God real? Does He care? Is He able?
These are not logical or rational questions related to someone else’s activity.
Someone’s lack of activity in accordance to what you want is NOT proof for or against their existence their love or their power.
Neurologically this is NOT rational thinking: There are LEVELS OF CHEMICALS that shift, [an over active amygdala secrets spikes of stress hormones adrenaline (positive and negative) with cortisol to regulate], INSIDE our body over TIME that creates triggers, fight or flight, in the MIST of uncertainty.
When we stay in a SEASON of delayed WAITING over a long TIME the base line of our cortisol spikes to insane heights so something very small seems like a big deal and our brain is repeatedly sending out distress signals to our prefrontal cortex, [responsible for rational thought, decision making and emotional regulation], becomes IMPAIRED, drunk on cortisol and adrenaline, even when there is no real danger.
The over activity in your amygdala overwhelms your prefrontal cortex making it difficult for you to weigh options so you struggle with difficult circumstances, becoming indecisive or impulsive, reacting in ways you would not normally.
John’s story of the death of Lazarus plays on all the factors, [Is God real? Does He care? Is He able?], for all the folks waiting, wondering and struggling with an over active amygdala. Why doesn’t God do something? He in the end does!
Romans 5:6-8 you see, at just the RIGHT TIME, when we were STILL POWERLESS, Christ died for the ungodly. Very RARELY will anyone die for a RIGHTEOUS person, though for a GOOD person someone might POSSIBLY dare to die. But God DEMONSTRATES his own LOVE FOR US in this: While we were STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us.
So why doesn’t God do something about_______?
John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this MIST world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
God’s WILL and God’s WAY is worth the WAIT!
The alternative:
Once you become immune to being drunk on cortisol and adrenaline you will need to self-medicate or turn to the medical industry. The bottom line is you’re now getting just more drunk again still treating only the symptoms.
Taleb in the book “Skin in the Game” states surgeries and medications have killed more folks then they have helped.
Embracing, [with skin in the game, the three seasons of WAITING and Proverbs 17:22], discomforts to reclaim a happy healthy self is the best cure.
If interested my final comment on Greg’s sermon “Hearing Gods Voice” might be of some additional help.
Bob Merritt, who recommended Idelman’s book “Every Thought Captive”, came back to do a sermon, at EB, “LIVE LIKE A MIST” …Idelman’s book closing thought!
The days might seem long, but life? It’s short, and we don’t get re-dos. So don’t miss out on even the littlest moments God’s given you today. When we don’t think about eternity giving all our time, energy and money to the MIST of our life here that appears for a moment and then vanishes, while ignoring the life you will live forever consider again the ending point of my 2nd comment on Cedrick’s complex sermon “Overcoming Selfishness”.
Oh; Idelman’s book like Ortberg’s book “Steps” also has Steps with steps within: [Thought Capture, Thought Classification, Though Connection, Thought Check and Thought Transformation] it’s worth a read!
I’ve decided to give a couple more of Idelman’s books a read.
“Gods at War” Defeating the Idols That Battle for Your Heart
Greg’s book “God at War” explores cosmic and spiritual battles whereas, Idleman’s focuses on the internal INSIDE conflict against idolatry.
“Not a Fan” Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus not just a CULTURAL CHRISTIAN fan!
Steven thanks again!
Dear Greg,
Thank you for the material, I will give it a read.
I found the whole Charlie Kirk assassination extremely emotional for me, really uncharacteristic of me. It surprised me. It’s gotten to the point in the country – in the world – that I don’t know what to make of all this. Now this senseless murder… I went to your sermon all ramped up. I stand by my assertions, but they are mine and should not be hoisted upon anyone else.
Yes, indeed I have been a victim of this polarization you speak of. The deep psychology they use to keep us at each other’s throat is tried and true. This situation was over the top; Charlie Kirk was a good man and now he’s dead. His wife, a widow and his children, fatherless. We can’t ignore the shooters motivations and the source of the motivations. Charlie Kirk did not deserve to be killed for speaking.
Thank you for your consideration, Greg, I’m really touched
Craig