This past Sunday, we had a Missionary that we support come and speak at our church. He posed the most astounding question.
Do you really want to see people get saved? Think about that for a minute. Do you really want to see people get saved? Now, that’s kind of an easy answer for a real Christian, I would think. Hopefully your answer is YES. So that’s not the astounding question.
Here is the follow up to that question, that just blew my doors off. You ready?
Do you really want to spend eternity with those people?
That question really stirred inside me. So yes, for the people I like, that is an easy answer. God please save them! Yes! I want to spend eternity with them. In fact, I can’t wait! However, let’s rephrase the thought with a little exercise:
Think about the person you despise the most. I’ll go first. Oh yeah, don’t worry, I have someone in mind. Afterall, I am human. Here is a description of the person I despise the most. He is self-centered, immature, and he is a harmful human being. He is despicable to others and his only purpose is to gratify self. In my view, he is bottom of the barrel. He demon strates it every day. The worst part? Many people are COMPLETELY BLIND to the fact of how harmful this person is. Which by the way, makes me despise the guy even more.
You got one like that? If not, then good for you, you are a better person than I am. But go ahead, think about the person you want to be farthest away from and why…I bet harm is in there somewhere.
Now let’s go back to our astounding question with a bit of modification. Do you really want this person to be saved? Ok – for me I can say yes, I really do. The why isn’t really for this person though. It’s for the people he harms. If he was saved, it would save others. Next question – much harder to answer. Should this person be saved, do I want to spend the rest of eternity with this guy? True answer? Holy Cow NO! Do you see the double meaning in my answer? Holy Cow – False Idol! NO!
In my heart, when I wrestle with this thought, I truly see what a celebration it would be if this person was saved. Honestly, due to the large amount of people this person harms, I truly struggle with wanting to celebrate with that person even if they were saved. Hang out with them for eternity? Gosh – what a struggle to even think about that. Where is the joy in that?
Yet, that is what we are instructed to do.
Proverbs 25:21-22
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the lord will reward you.
In a 21st Century term you might be able to relate to better, what does this mean? I use this term to describe this scripture: “Kill em with kindness.”
What does this really mean when we live out Proverbs 25:21-22 and or as described above with the term “Kill em with Kindness?”
Short answer? We are participating in saving that person. God wants to save them just as much, if not more than, He has already saved you.
That’s the heart of it.