Does Your Evangelism Need To Be Infused With Kindness?

We live in strange times, times in which certain concepts enjoy an extensive existence, but that existence takes place on the threshold of extinction. My initial preparation for this article came during a long-anticipated vacation earlier this month when the theme of kindness besieged me. As my wife and I walked through what is considered a known and luxurious downtown, we were confronted with physical signs advocating compassion and kindness. Some signs defined kindness for me (i.e., saying that kindness was being vaccinated), others told me the outcome of kindness (i.e., tolerance was evidence that I was a kind person), and many other signs were nothing more than stern commands to be kind to others. What confounded me was that in the midst of all these appeals about kindness was the utter absence of kindness.

In this experience, my mind wandered, and at one point, I said to myself, "I hope that this is not the character of our evangelism." To use this experience to critique both secular evangelism and Christian evangelism would be unfair. I would be deceived if my expectation was for the secular world to understand and propagate biblical kindness. Neither do I want to suggest that an occurrence in the secular culture indicates the same occurs in genuine Christianity. Instead, this was simply a moment that caused me to consider the role of kindness and compassion in evangelism.

Sadly, I can speak from a few unappealing evangelism moments in my own life in which a lack of kindness was the character of my interactions with unbelievers. While professing Christ, I sometimes did not seem very Christlike. Evangelism infused with kindness and compassion, though, influences how we interact with others. As a result, kindness becomes a gateway for evangelism, allowing us to propagate the gospel more frequently and more deeply because people are apt to respond positively when they are on the receiving end of compassion. Even if they disagree, they are more open to hearing the gospel message.

Kindness sometimes makes our evangelism efforts more practical. Now, what can be more practical than sharing the message of eternity with someone who is perishing? I'm not trying to minimize what is at stake or say any effort eclipses that goal. Instead, I only mean to say that kindness may impact how we evangelize. Kindness will cause believers to:

• Reach out to meet critical needs: Kindness causes us to reach out to people in dire circumstances, attempting to meet some basic requirements to create a gospel opportunity. Perhaps it is providing a meal, a tank of gas, or some groceries to someone in order to help them physically at the moment and eternally by sharing the gospel through that God-ordained moment.
• Reach out during critical moments: Additionally, kindness causes us to be aware of people and the events of their lives. It may be coming alongside during a meaningful loss, significant trial, or a joyous birth. This kindness shows we value people, and the gospel message we share comes from that care and concern for them.
• Reach out in critical ways: Finally, kindness in evangelism means that while we may initiate contact by meeting critical needs in critical moments, we never forget the critical purpose: to share the gospel.

Kindness has a practical effect on our evangelism, compelling us to evangelize more. There is a lasting impact created by kindness. The effect is not merely whether or not people respond positively to the gospel at that moment. Although we hope that they will become disciples of Christ, the lasting impact sometimes is simply that in the future, remembrance of those moments of kindness will also cause those individuals to remember the truth of God's gospel.

‍