A Year Of Kindness (III): The Experience Of Paul

 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control.  Against such there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

When I think about kindness appearing in the Bible, these are the verses that immediately pops into my mind (most likely because it is one that I have memorized).  And as I was thinking about these verses in general, thing that popped into my mind is that of all of the fruit of the Spirit, kindness is the one I cannot specifically being called out by Christ.

Love? Joy? Peace?  Christ talked a lot about those.  Goodness?  Faithfulness?  Self-control?  These are either mentioned also by Christ, or alluded to in His parables.  Kindness alone is the one that initially seems to be missing.

A look through where else kindness (chrestotes (χρηστότης)) as used in Galatians 5 reveals something else interesting: the word itself is never used by Jesus. It is only used by Paul (2 Corinthians 6:6, Ephesians 2:7, Colossians 3:12, Titus 3:4).  As Paul was not one to preach that which he had not received from The Lord (as he would say), there is clearly something up.  Why would he speak of a fruit of the Spirit which alone seems to be one which Christ never directly spoke or taught of?

He speaks of it, I think, because of his experience with Christ. 

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No-one can reasonably claim that Christ did not evidence kindness.  His invitation to let the children come to Him (this, from a man who was constantly interacting with people almost all the time), his words to Peter in Luke 22:31-32 predicting Peter's betrayal and his restoration, and even his interaction with the rich young ruler where he did not confront him mockingly when he assured Christ he met all the conditions - Christ knew and practiced kindness.  And yet He does not seem to have specifically addressed it.

And yet, Paul does (everything that follow here is obviously my opinion) because Paul directly experienced Christ's kindness.

Paul's (then Saul's) experience on the Damascus Road is one I wonder if any of us can fully understand or appreciate.  A enemy of Christians, in his mind serving the God of his fathers, he is literally on his way to drag believers back to Jerusalem for trial and quite possibly execution; he is said to have been "still breathing threats and murder against the disciples".  We know he approved of the stoning of Stephen; we do not know if any others had died because of him (but it was possible).

And suddenly, he is confronted directly by Jesus.

Jesus does not accuse Paul, He does not threaten him with punishment for the damage he had done to believers or what he had said of them or even ask him what he is on his way to do.  He simply asks "Why do you persecute me?"

Paul's response is "Who are you, Lord?"  With the answer of "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" reality becomes painfully clear.

Christ never reminds Paul of what he was after his conversion.  He never has too; Paul remembers all too well.  He likely remembers the names of every person he persecuted, he can see himself standing at the body of Stephen after stoning.  Paul remembers - but God never speaks of it.

Instead, God through Christ gives him the Hebrew hesed, loving kindness pouring over him and running down him.  Paul was trained in the Law; he understood very well the idea of hesed.  Perhaps for the first time, he actually lived it.

Every day, then, became a reminder of God's kindness to Paul.  

Which is why - at least to me - Paul mentions it among the fruit of the Spirit, even though it is not spoken of in the same manner in the Gospels.  Once he experienced the kindness of the Lord, he could not go back.

Which is why I think it is so important for us to practice it as well.  In being kind, we can give people such a different experience from the world that they will inevitably return - and in returning, wonder and perhaps ask how and why we are this way.

We are this way, because we, too, have experienced the hesed of God.