When Kindness isn't Enough

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (I Thessalonians 5:11)

Did you know the word compassion appears 56 times in the Bible? Kindness appears 29. I believe if you ask people what one of the most important things we can teach our children is, a large number would say either or both of those. Kindness and compassion.

But what if kindness isn't enough?

We live in a world in which the word bully can be heard every day. In the news, in social media, in conversations. Unfortunately, we also live in a world in which bullying is pretty easy.

When I was a kid, being bullied meant somebody pushed you on the playground. Took your lunch money. Cut in line. That kind of thing. As I got older, I realized bullying can also take the form of words.

Remember that old saw, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me?"

Wow, was there ever a bigger falsehood taught to children? It outstrips Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Boogie Man all together, doesn't it?

Words hurt. And I've also seen where the absence of words hurts. Have you ever seen a group of teenage girls exclude or ignore one of their peers? It hurts.

So while we're teaching kindness and compassion, why don't we teach our children to stand up? To speak out. To include.

The thing about this particular topic that truly saddens me is that I see a lot of exclusion among Christians. I realize we all gravitate toward people with whom we have things in common. But our love for Christ should unite us above all other bonds.

As a parent, this topic is kind of near and dear to me. I've seen young people excluded and ignored by their Christian friends. And this was really brought home to me this weekend when I picked my child up after a week of ... not summer camp with other young Christians, but rather a week spent with about 600 other young ladies--all races, religions, cultures, and walks of life--learning about our government, citizenship, and leadership. But in addition to those things, my daughter told me repeatedly how encouraging, uplifting, and empowering those other young ladies all were to each other.

Shouldn't we be able to say that after spending time with our fellow Christians? So while we're teaching kindness and compassion, let's take it a step further and teach our children to stand up in the face of unkindness. Teach them that kindness and compassion is inclusive to everyone, not just the people they like. Kindness and compassion is strong. It's brave.

And if it isn't all those things, it's not enough.