Nice & Polite: What Would Jesus NOT Do?

So, being a good Christian means being super nice to others and using your manners, right? Wrong. Here's another episode (er... post) on things the Bible doesn't say!

Jesus was not always a nice guy.

Does this statement make you feel uncomfortable? If you've grown up on WWJD bracelets, you might be surprised that what He would do is a lot less politically correct than you thought. He never gave us an example of him being polite. He was not always well-mannered. He was always kind and loving - but not always nice. "What's the difference?" I hear you ask.

"A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said. He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment." Matthew 15:21-28

Some like to avoid this verse because it speaks of a different Jesus than we're used to discussing, the one who welcomed children onto His lap and wept over friends' deaths. This Jesus essentially called a woman, pleading for help, a dog. Who is this man?!

Well, let's dive in. Do you remember that in the book of Matthew, there are two stories of Jesus and His disciples miraculously feeding an innumerable crowd? This verse is right in the middle. The first story of feeding describes 5000 people waiting to be fed where the disciples ask Jesus to send them away. Besides, there's not enough food to feed them all. Jesus simply states, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." (Matthew 14:16) After everyone ate, there were only crumbs left, twelve basketfuls (twelve for the tribes of Israel).

Then, this woman states even dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table (an allusion to Jesus' parables of the Kingdom of God being compared to a banquet, perhaps).

After, we get the story of the crowd, 4000 people strong. His disciples ask, "Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?" (Matthew 15:33) Again, everyone is fed, and this time there are seven basketfuls of crumbs left (seven is the number of completion, wholeness, the number of all nations).

The number of all nations. So, although this woman was a Canaanite and not a Hebrew, she was a feisty and determined individual whom Jesus actually rejoiced over. Jesus didn't just speak parables, He lived them, and this woman was the first example of a gentile being shown as worthy of salvation. Jesus was telling a parable of how the many nations, not just the Hebrews, would be saved, and He did it while being a bit mean.

“The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’” John 2:13-16

We can't forget Jesus' tirade at the temple. He was angry that they turned this sacred place, meant to be all about the relationship between God and humankind, and turned it into commercialism and greed.

This might give you a good idea of how He'd react to many modern-day "religious" swindlers.

He wasn't being nice when He yelled at merchants and "macgyvered" a whip to beat and chase people out of the area. However, He had a kind purpose and that was to preserve the sanctity of the temple. He acted out of love for the Father represented there and the true children of God who were there to worship.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are...You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel...Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?" Matthew 23:1-39

This is only part of the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees, those revered at the time for their "holiness." They spent most of their energy trying to undermine and sabotage Jesus in anything He did. And I mean anything: eating corn with His disciples caused them to rain anger on His head.

Jesus has many names He calls the Pharisees, including hypocrites, children of hell, greedy, self-indulgent, whitewashed tombs, and many more. He sure wasn't being nice or polite.

He was warning them and others of the dangers of talking the talk but not walking the walk. They spoke many things of holiness while they ignored the poor, the sick, and "shut the door of the kingdoms of heaven in people's faces." (Matthew 23:13)

To be nice is to be pleasant or satisfactory to another person. To be kind is to be generous, sympathetic, or considerate. I believe being kind is innate while niceness is a social construct.

As Christians, we are called to be like Jesus. The world may desire nice, polite, well-mannered, and tolerant of evil. God does not. It's nice to be nice, but sometimes, we have to forgo our manners in order to be kind. It's good to be respectful, but it's more important to walk the walk of righteousness, standing up for what's right. If you must forgo respect to accomplish that, so be it.


Jesus wasn't always nice, and I guess that's called tough love.



Sources other than the Bible:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-kay-lundblad/on-scripture-matthew-15-teaching-jesus_b_921497.html