Make America Kind Again

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Catey Stover in Freedom Fighters

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:5-8

I just was invited to a group on Facebook, which made me chuckle – the group has obviously been created because of all the ugly rhetoric we see on the news and in social media.

Good morning, and welcome to a new week of Freedom Fighters. We can’t thank you enough for partnering with us each week as you read, and especially when you forward a particular blog to your friends.

What I am about to address today is not about endorsing a political party. It is not meant to be about politics at all, because unfortunately, what I want to share today is prevalent in just about every Christian circles.

It could be that this will turn into two blogs, so here we go …

Where has all the kindness gone these days? Quite honestly, I don’t expect to see kindness in the “world.” But I do question what has happened to us who call ourselves Jesus followers.

I already know that I have set someone on edge, and I am expecting some push back. That’s ok. But please hear my heart.

Our world is filled with ugly, hateful speech. Yes, it is happening with both political parties. I actually find myself listening to short bits of news because I can’t stand it. It makes my stomach church.

It happens on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever social media you use. We attack, we criticize, we name call, we are hateful. What happened to kindness?

Unfortunately, I could give you so many illustrations. Having served in conference ministry for 30+ years, just when I have thought I had heard it all, something else happens, and I go, “You can’t script this stuff out.”

There are two speakers who used to come to America’s Keswick. The last time they were here, I, unfortunately, had booked them together. The week was a disaster and an embarrassment.

Both speakers are very good Bible teachers. But when they start into their witch hunt mode, it gets pretty dicey and embarrassing.

Both men chose to expose “error” that they believed was important for our Keswick audience to hear. I have no problem with a speaker exposing error and sharing from Scripture why people need to be more discerning of some of the teaching we hear on radio, TV, and social media.

Where I believe both men crossed the line was when they decided to attack another ministry leader’s family members, their looks, in other words, they were mocking and making fun of another brother, not just to expose error, but in an unkind way.

One of the men actually publically said that a particular Bible teacher was not saved and was a heretic. Unfortunately, there were people from that particular Bible teacher’s church attending the conference, and the Pastor himself was watching the service on Livestream.

Someone will say to me, but Jesus called the Pharisees and Sadducees names. Why can’t we do that? After all, it is what it is, right?

Here’s what I have observed. It seems to be alright for the name-caller to do it, but when the tables get turned, it isn’t very pretty, and in fact, the name-caller tends to really go in attack mode.

I go back to the fact that the Bible tons to say about how we use our speech. And if you reread our theme verse, kindness is one of the attributes that Peter says we are to add to our faith.

I guess this will turn into two blogs.

Set apart for more,

Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick

Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his childhood sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 11 amazing grandkids. He loves music and is an avid reader.

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Think About This: “My words, thoughts, and deeds have a boomerang effect. So be careful what you send out.” – Anonymous

The Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samuel 10-14 | You can download our 2020 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: ⁴ Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. ⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. –Psalm 25:4-5

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the doctrinal and theological views held by America’s Keswick.