Finding Faith ... in kindness being at the very heart of the gospel

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on Jan. 29, 2022.

The Rev. Devlyn Brooks at his home church, Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn.

By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks

As the young woman handed me my coffee through the drive-up window, she shared: “I appreciate you so much when you stop. You are so kind, no matter what. And today, well, I’ve had a couple of people who weren’t so kind, and so I just had to say ‘Thank you.’”

I visit this coffee shop enough that many on staff just call me “Rev.” So, this wasn’t a surprise that she would feel comfortable sharing this. But, yet, as I drove away, I was stunned. … I mean, just how mean were these other customers that me just being kind would induce that level of gratitude from her?

Full disclosure: I don’t understand meanness. I never have. I’m not boasting; it’s just that going back as far as my childhood, I can never remember wanting to treat someone poorly, even when they weren’t as kind back. Maybe that came from the sweet disposition that my mother possessed. Maybe it was a trait instilled by God from birth. I don’t have the answer.

Regardless, as I was aging, I didn’t recognize that kindness is really just about living out the gospel. … It’s an effort to walk in Jesus’ footsteps without naming it so. And I wasn’t able to identify this for what it is until well into my decision to follow my call to be a pastor.

In its simplest form, the gospel calls on us to be kind. That’s it. And Jesus knows that if we are to be kind, we may stumble and make mistakes, but at the heart of our actions will be intentional kindness. And thus those mistakes will be forgiven in grace.

I am not saying that Christians have the market cornered on kindness. I am aware most religions call for kindness, and I know people who profess not to follow a faith practice kindness too. So, let’s just say, in my best C.S. Lewis impersonation, that there are many roads that lead to this same destination.

I hesitate to reduce this discussion to a cliché, but in my experience it is true that “hurt people hurt people.” This is what I thought this morning as I pulled away from my coffee joint. Who previously hurt those customers so badly that taking out their pain on a woman, working part-time serving coffee to get through college, is deserving of their vile? It seems that we humans never tire of directing our own pain at someone other than us. And thus we continue to perpetuate thousands of years of hurt.

It’s too corny to ask, “What would Jesus do?” in line at a coffee joint. But I know for certain that he wouldn’t thoughtlessly be unkind to someone who’s just making him a cup of joe.

Devlyn Brooks, who works for Modulist, a Forum Communications Co.-owned company, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He can be reached at devlyn.brooks@forumcomm.com for comments and story ideas.