Chinese summary of Rev Smedes' passage
LOVE IS A POWER that moves us to be kind.
Kindness is the will to save; it is God's awesome power channeled into gentle healing.
Such kindness may be soft, not weak;
tender, but not feeble;
sensitive, but not fragile.
Kindness is power
Our world cannot understand that love is power and that kindness is the work of that power.
Kindness is the power that moves us to support and heal someone who ffers nothing in return.
Kindness is the power to move a self-centered ego toward the weak, the ugly, the heart, and to move that ego to invest itself in personal care with no expectation of reward.
Realities about power
Human power is the energy within us to affect persons outside us. Power is neutral, it can be harmful, or creative and helpful. God's power is always the energizer of help, for God is love. Human power is always mixed -- helpful and destructive.
Power is exploitative when it is used to diminish the power of other persons (eg, slaveholders). Exploitative power is at work whenever we maneuver other people to do what we wish them to do in a way that cheats them of a genuine choice. Exploitative power is inevitably unkind.
Servant power is human power used to increase the power of a weaker person. The best example is parents nurture a child into an independent personality - the child can exercise his/her human power to decide, to will consistently, to stick with promises, to demonstrate affection in the midst of tension; the power that gives one freedom to bow before the Lord and accept His love. With this direct expression of kindness in servant power, we are free from anxiety about our own weakness, free to be gentle, openly caring.
Collegial power is the human power we experience along with another person. E.g. mutual and beneficial criticism between scientists, student-and-teacher. It is edifying power, the power to build, to nurture, to add to the strengths of persons.
Too often, collegial power within a Christian community is replaced by negative criticism; the temptation is strong to serve each other only by ministering to other's weaknesses. Collegial power is increased when we minister to each other's strengths, encouraging what is strong ot grow still stronger. Church collegial power is possible through the shared Spirit. Several centers of human power encounter each other in love with the result that the power of each person is increased by the power of the others. Collegial power - bracing, challenging, and critical -- is compatible with kindness.
Exploitative power - unkind, depends on the weakness of others; enhanced through exploitation of the weakness of others.
Collegial power - consistent with kindness; depends on the strength of others; enhance our power by integrating others' power into our life
Servant power - direct expression of kindness
Kindness - comes directly from the power of love
Kindness dares to be weak
The ultimate model of powerful kindness is God. He does not need to exploit, to be stimulated by competition... God is self-generating power of selfless, giving love.
God has the power to be indiscriminate in kindness (Luke 6:35). "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good.." (Matthew 5:45).
Kindness is love's readiness to move close to another person in order to heal, to enhance the life of another person. It takes power to be kind because kindness is risky.
The only way to keep kindness alive in a world where obvious power is prized most is to come back to the cross of Christ, where divine power healed the world by becoming weak within the world. The kindness of Christ's cross looks like weakness because it is tender, vulnerable, asks nothing, gives everything, and stops personally to the weakest, and ugliest. This utter weakness was utter redemptive power. It is divine power.
Love moved God to become a person like us. Love led Him, as a human, to use his power wholly as servant power. In this ultimate weakness, infinite power was set loose in the world. "The weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25) Ultimate kindness is ultimate power. It means that it takes great power to be free enough to be radically kind, to become weak with the weak in order to heal them.
Kindness is intelligent and tough
Love's kindness works within the limits of life's hard realities. We have limited resources. Might a kind person, by mismanaging hsi resources, actually be unkind and unfair? Kindness must be used with wisdom within a structure of justice and fairness. Kindness to one is limited by the fair claims of many others.
Love is always kind, but kind acts are not always loving acts. eg, the rich politician may stand with the poor in order to get their vote. We do few things from hearts of pure kindness. But this does not the edge off the power of kindness. Paul only says that love is the power that moves us in the direction of kindness. As we are moved by love, we will also be moved to be kind.
Kindness is always a move toward healing. Kindness sometimes needs to be very hard/tough instead of being gentle in order to heal (eg forcing an addict to go through withdrawal symptoms). Kindness means to withhold what harms as well as give what heals. We must calculate the means most likely to achieve the most healing end.
In touch with God, then, we will be kind.
Justice must be the framework, and wisdom must give the insight to tell when kindness is just. We will be kind only imperfectly, for we are not ready for perfection. But influenced by God's love we will have the power to be kind. We will feel the stirring of a love powerful enough to make us willing to be weak. And we will discover that being able to get close to another person in order to heal is our greatest strength.
Chinese version: 愛是恩慈
Summarized from 撮要自 已故牧師Rev. LB. Smedes之「愛在限制中: 在自私的世界中實踐無私的愛Love within limits: realizing selfless love in a selfish world. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1979. 」 Rev. Smedes was a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church, a former ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_B._Smedes
LOVE IS A POWER that moves us to be kind.
Kindness is the will to save; it is God's awesome power channeled into gentle healing.
Such kindness may be soft, not weak;
tender, but not feeble;
sensitive, but not fragile.
Kindness is power
Our world cannot understand that love is power and that kindness is the work of that power.
Kindness is the power that moves us to support and heal someone who ffers nothing in return.
Kindness is the power to move a self-centered ego toward the weak, the ugly, the heart, and to move that ego to invest itself in personal care with no expectation of reward.
Realities about power
Human power is the energy within us to affect persons outside us. Power is neutral, it can be harmful, or creative and helpful. God's power is always the energizer of help, for God is love. Human power is always mixed -- helpful and destructive.
Power is exploitative when it is used to diminish the power of other persons (eg, slaveholders). Exploitative power is at work whenever we maneuver other people to do what we wish them to do in a way that cheats them of a genuine choice. Exploitative power is inevitably unkind.
Servant power is human power used to increase the power of a weaker person. The best example is parents nurture a child into an independent personality - the child can exercise his/her human power to decide, to will consistently, to stick with promises, to demonstrate affection in the midst of tension; the power that gives one freedom to bow before the Lord and accept His love. With this direct expression of kindness in servant power, we are free from anxiety about our own weakness, free to be gentle, openly caring.
Collegial power is the human power we experience along with another person. E.g. mutual and beneficial criticism between scientists, student-and-teacher. It is edifying power, the power to build, to nurture, to add to the strengths of persons.
Too often, collegial power within a Christian community is replaced by negative criticism; the temptation is strong to serve each other only by ministering to other's weaknesses. Collegial power is increased when we minister to each other's strengths, encouraging what is strong ot grow still stronger. Church collegial power is possible through the shared Spirit. Several centers of human power encounter each other in love with the result that the power of each person is increased by the power of the others. Collegial power - bracing, challenging, and critical -- is compatible with kindness.
Exploitative power - unkind, depends on the weakness of others; enhanced through exploitation of the weakness of others.
Collegial power - consistent with kindness; depends on the strength of others; enhance our power by integrating others' power into our life
Servant power - direct expression of kindness
Kindness - comes directly from the power of love
Kindness dares to be weak
The ultimate model of powerful kindness is God. He does not need to exploit, to be stimulated by competition... God is self-generating power of selfless, giving love.
God has the power to be indiscriminate in kindness (Luke 6:35). "He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good.." (Matthew 5:45).
Kindness is love's readiness to move close to another person in order to heal, to enhance the life of another person. It takes power to be kind because kindness is risky.
The only way to keep kindness alive in a world where obvious power is prized most is to come back to the cross of Christ, where divine power healed the world by becoming weak within the world. The kindness of Christ's cross looks like weakness because it is tender, vulnerable, asks nothing, gives everything, and stops personally to the weakest, and ugliest. This utter weakness was utter redemptive power. It is divine power.
Love moved God to become a person like us. Love led Him, as a human, to use his power wholly as servant power. In this ultimate weakness, infinite power was set loose in the world. "The weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25) Ultimate kindness is ultimate power. It means that it takes great power to be free enough to be radically kind, to become weak with the weak in order to heal them.
Kindness is intelligent and tough
Love's kindness works within the limits of life's hard realities. We have limited resources. Might a kind person, by mismanaging hsi resources, actually be unkind and unfair? Kindness must be used with wisdom within a structure of justice and fairness. Kindness to one is limited by the fair claims of many others.
Love is always kind, but kind acts are not always loving acts. eg, the rich politician may stand with the poor in order to get their vote. We do few things from hearts of pure kindness. But this does not the edge off the power of kindness. Paul only says that love is the power that moves us in the direction of kindness. As we are moved by love, we will also be moved to be kind.
Kindness is always a move toward healing. Kindness sometimes needs to be very hard/tough instead of being gentle in order to heal (eg forcing an addict to go through withdrawal symptoms). Kindness means to withhold what harms as well as give what heals. We must calculate the means most likely to achieve the most healing end.
In touch with God, then, we will be kind.
Justice must be the framework, and wisdom must give the insight to tell when kindness is just. We will be kind only imperfectly, for we are not ready for perfection. But influenced by God's love we will have the power to be kind. We will feel the stirring of a love powerful enough to make us willing to be weak. And we will discover that being able to get close to another person in order to heal is our greatest strength.
Chinese version: 愛是恩慈
Summarized from 撮要自 已故牧師Rev. LB. Smedes之「愛在限制中: 在自私的世界中實踐無私的愛Love within limits: realizing selfless love in a selfish world. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1979. 」 Rev. Smedes was a retired minister in the Christian Reformed Church, a former ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_B._Smedes
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