Free Hugs

One of my featured blogger links is Sunburned and she has a recent post that is really interesting. She relates a story about how on a recent Sunday in church her Pastor instructed the congregation to "hug the person next to you". I've been in church services where we shook hands, told the person next to us, "Jesus loves you", or something like that, but hugs? Never. But Miss "Sunburned" wasn't sitting next to anyone she knew, and felt awkward and pressured and slipped out of church only to come across a guy on the streets of New York city holding a sign, "Free Hugs".

Her take on this is certainly worth a read, but it also brings me to a little theory I have held for some time. In short, my theory is that "random acts of kindness" don't need any other goal than the act of kindness itself and that sometimes the less focused we are on a "spiritual outcome" the more God is able to use it for spiritual good. I have certainly done my share of acts of callousness and flat out rudeness in public, but I have also had some moments of charity as well. I don't pass out bills to every person on the streets of Philadelphia bumming for change but I have had some interesting experiences when the spirit seemed to move me to an act of kindness. They have ranged from giving rides to a semi-psychopath, buying breakfast for a homeless person, chasing down a neighbor's lost dog, and rescuing the victim of a hit and run. These moments usually bless me more than the receiver and they are fascinating experiences.

When I share these stories with others I get all sorts of reactions. Some people seem to think I am bragging. Sadly they have missed the point that these acts blessed me the most, and it is not any more of a "brag" than if I had related how someone had helped me out instead. Some people find it inspiring and come back to me later with their own inspiring stories. But what is very common, and disturbing, is that a lot of Bible-believing Christians will almost always ask me the same question.... "So did you... [insert a spiritual action here] when you helped them?" The "spiritual action" question could be everything from inviting them to church, to giving them spiritual literature, to praying with them, to an invitation to accept Jesus. Now please understand. I am definitely not saying that inviting someone to church or preaching the Good News is wrong. To everything there is a season... the proverb goes (no, it wasn't just a song... it was in Ecclesiastes first). There have been times when I have given someone change and told them "Jesus loves you" and really meant it. I also think street witnessing is a lost art that is entirely valid. But in most of these cases I have found that I can trust God's spirit to use the simple act to which He seems to have compelled me without me saying much of anything. Sometimes people "just need a hug".

I look at it this way... let's say that I look behind me in the grocery line and I see a mom with a pair of cranky children. I don't have a lot of groceries and she doesn't have too much, and she looks like she's had a really bad day. So I insist she trade spots with me in line. Generally I HATE lines, and would rip the arm off of someone who tried to take my spot, so I know that God is moving here. Do I tell her, "Jesus loves you", or suggest she attend my church? Do I give her a Gospel of John? Nope. I just give her my spot in line and smile. "What possible good could this do?", some may ask (and believe me, some have asked me). Well, maybe she is just an average Mom just having a bad day. But maybe her husband just left her, for the second time, and her Father is dying of cancer. And maybe one of her best friends just did something really terrible to her. Maybe her best friend is the "other woman". And maybe this woman behind me in line has decided she is going to take home her groceries, and cook herself her favorite meal, and drop her kids off at Grandmom's house and drive into a tree on her way to her night-shift at the nursing home, and kill herself. Because maybe she has decided that there is just no good in the world, and she has lost all hope of God's compassion. Maybe, just maybe, my small act of kindness might give her reason to hope, and make it through another day. What God does with this woman from there I don't know. All we can do is be obedient and not squelch God's Spirit when we are compelled. God can take it from there.

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.