AI Summary
5 min readIn the opening of a sermon on kindness, Tim Keller drops a disorienting observation: Ian McKellen, the actor, once said that "really good people who are the inhuman ones, not the really wicked people." McKellen was talking about a certain kind of goodness that feels artificial, forced, and unreal—the kind that makes audiences find saintly movie characters boring. Keller uses this as a springboard to argue that the kindness the Bible calls for is not the natural, temperamental niceness most people think they already have. It is, instead, a supernatural mark of a heart changed by grace, and it is harder than it looks.
What kindness is not: the problem of artificial goodness
Keller begins by clearing ground. Most people, he notes, will admit they struggle with forgiveness—it feels hard. But virtually nobody admits to being unkind. "It's almost impossible out there to find an American who says, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm unkind. I'm a pretty unkind person.'" Yet Paul includes kindness in the lists of the fruit of the Spirit and in 1 Corinthians 13, alongside patience and self-control. Why would something so common be a mark of supernatural change?
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:03) **Introduction: The Radical Principle of a Changed Heart** - Keller introduces the series on the marks of a supernaturally changed heart versus a merely morally restrained one.
- 2 (05:24) **What Kindness Is Not: The Problem of Artificial Kindness** - Keller contrasts forgiveness (seen as hard) with kindness (seen as easy), then argues that real spiritual kindness is actually unnatural and difficult.
- 3 (13:14) **Two Types of Artificial Kindness: Jane and Mary Bennett** - Keller uses characters from *Pride and Prejudice* to illustrate two common, self-serving forms of kindness.
- 4 (19:36) **The Third Option: Lizzie Bennett and the Need for Both Humility and Confidence** - Keller presents Lizzie as a model for what real kindness requires: a supernatural combination of deep humility and inner assurance.
- 5 (24:41) **What Kindness Is: Three Aspects (Part 1) - Practical Grace** - The first aspect of real spiritual kindness is meeting the needs of others instead of your own, even when it's uncomfortable.
- 6 (27:14) **What Kindness Is: Three Aspects (Part 2) - Befriending Grace** - The second aspect is giving yourself, not just things, through vulnerable transparency and unconditional constancy.
- 7 (33:22) **What Kindness Is: Three Aspects (Part 3) - Visionary Grace** - The third aspect is having a vision for the people you encounter, seeing them in light of their eternal destiny.
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Show Notes
Every religion in the world gives you a list of virtuous behaviors. But the New Testament gives you something different. It does give you a list, but it’s of aspects of how a supernaturally, grace-changed heart shows itself.
The apostle Paul says it’s possible to do all the morally virtuous behavior without any love at the core, for virtuous behavior to flow out of an inner emptiness rather than an inner fullness. Jesus actually talks about this constantly. And so we’re looking at what we’re calling practical graces, at the aspects of a heart that isn’t just restrained but that is supernaturally changed.
We’re looking now at kindness. Let’s look at 1) what kindness is not, 2) what kindness is, and 3) how you can get it.
This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 27, 2002. Series: Practical Grace; How the Gospel Transforms Character. Scripture: Ephesians 4:29-5:2; John 15:12-15.
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