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What if I told you “Jesus wasn’t nice”? Would you agree or disagree? Would it change the way you see Jesus?
One of the first things I learned about Jesus on my own (rather than having Sunday school teachers, youth group pastors and leaders, and pastors tell me things about Jesus) was that Jesus wasn’t nice.
Read the 23rd chapter of Matthew and tell me if that’s something a “nice” person would say.
Let me give you some highlights:
You blind guides! You filter out an ant but swallow a camel.
How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth. 28 In the same way you look righteous to people. But inside you are full of pretense and rebellion.
You snakes! You children of snakes! How will you be able to escape the judgment of hell?
Not very nice things to say to the religious leaders of his day.
I think we create all sorts of problems when we think Jesus was a “nice” person and that our calling is to be “nice.”
Now, don’t get me twisted. I’m not saying that Jesus was bad nor am I telling you to forgo being nice and flat out be a jerk. There’s a difference between being nice and being good.
Jesus was good, not nice. Therefore we should focus on being good, not nice.
It’s worthwhile to note the difference between the two. Because, nice people don’t get crucified.
Being nice verse being good
Being nice can be a deterrent from being good.
“Nice” people don’t really confront evil. They’re too concerned with being polite and proper. They don’t want to be a disturbance.
Good people confront injustice and evil — often making “nice” people uncomfortable.
“Nice” people don’t challenge the status quo. They’d rather maintain it, because to challenge the status quo -- to cause a disturbance -- wouldn’t be very polite or nice.
Good people will challenge the status quo so that the (quoting Isaiah 43) uneven ground will become level.
The famous preacher Tony Campolo called this discrepancy out once in a sermon at a church gathering (and I paraphrase):
There are millions of people dying of hunger right now.
None of you in this church give a f%$# about them.
And right now you’re more concerned about what I said than the people dying of hunger.
Jesus was generous with love and grace which resulted him being rejected by the authorities. Jesus was inclusive, and in doing so, pushed the boundaries that led him to be persecuted by the powers that be.
If Jesus was “nice” he wouldn’t have challenged the system that was oppressive and marginalized the vulnerable. Again, if Jesus was “nice” he wouldn’t have been killed.
Jesus was good. His mission was to share the goodness of God’s kingdom, not to be “nice.” The goodness of God’s kingdom very often conflicts with the values of the world.
Jesus was unflinching in proclaiming the Gospel — even at the risk of offending the powerful people. Jesus spoke truth to power and opened the gates to include those who were excluded from the religious system. And it cost him his life.
I know I’ve said this twice already but it’s worth mentioning again: if Jesus was “nice”, he wouldn’t have been killed.
So what does this mean for us?
A focus on being good
Well. Let’s not focus so much on being nice, proper, and prim. Don’t get me wrong — being those things do have a time and a place. I’m also not saying go out there and be a complete jerk. However, when we put all of our focus on being nice, it will get in the way of being good.
So may we focus on being good.
Good pushes us to be inclusive; to challenge the status quo; to do the work on making the ground level for everyone, particularly the vulnerable and marginalized.
Being good gives us the courage to speak truth to power; to name injustices; to work towards wholeness.
Being good allows us to partner with God in ushering God’s kingdom closer and closer.
I mean, when we ask ourselves “WWJD” (what would Jesus do?), an option is to flip tables out of holy anger and bringing light to injustice for the sake of goodness.
However, we should note that being good may often require a sacrifice, as Jesus has shown us. But the Kingdom of God will not be ushered on the back of being nice.
We have too many nice Christians. We need more good Christians.
Joseph Yoo is the author When the Saints Go Flying in. He is a West Coaster at heart contently living in Houston, Texas with his wife and son. He serves at Mosaic Church in Houston. Find more of his writing at josephyoo.com.
