Walking the LineSample

Once a Christian puts himself above the world, or in his fervor becomes “holier than thou” or too good to associate with people of questionable character, then he has alienated the very people who need what he has to share. —Johnny Cash

Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. —Colossians 3:12–14 NLT

God’s people walk a fine line. On the one hand, we’re instructed to live our lives in a way that reflects God’s work in our lives. Often this requires us to approach life from a perspective others don’t share. It sets us on a path apart from others, one that often runs against the crowd. Our Christian faith sets us apart.

The New Testament calls us aliens, strangers in a strange land, not of this world. On the other hand, we have to stay relatable. Other people need to see themselves in us. They need to know that what’s happened in our lives can happen in theirs. If we get too otherworldly, we risk . . . well, alienating the very people we’re called to serve.

In his letter to the Colossian believers, the apostle Paul identifies five qualities that keep us grounded and help us build genuine connections with the people we serve. The first is tenderhearted mercy. To show tender-hearted mercy to the people God puts in our lives, we must look past the things that cause friction or disconnects in our interactions with them. Differing personalities, viewpoints, backgrounds, and circumstances tend to cloud our vision of other people. To see them more clearly, we must consider their unspoken struggles—the fears, anxieties, and insecurities they wrestle with.

When our hearts are tender, we’re more apt to show the second quality: kindness. The great thing about kindness is that it can be customized to fit any personality and any situation. For some, kindness might look like picking up a neighbor’s trash after her garbage can is knocked over. For others, it might look like stopping to talk to the guy holding a sign on a street corner. And for others, it might look like buying a holiday-inspired latte for the impatient person in line behind you at the coffee shop.

The third quality is humility. This gets to the heart of what Johnny Cash was talking about. Everything that makes a Christian special comes from Jesus, not us. We must communicate that truth. The old saying goes, “A Christian is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.”

The fourth quality is gentleness, showing genuine care and respect to others in acting and speaking. Jesus set the standard for gentleness in His interactions with people. A gentle spirit earns people’s trust.

The fifth quality is patience. Patience signals that we’re invested in others for the long haul and have no timetable or agenda. Patience makes others comfortable with us and helps establish a lasting bond.

Father, thank You for entrusting me to show others Your love. Let Your Holy Spirit work in my heart so that mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience become my second nature. Bless my efforts to reach out to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.