When it comes to working with church leaders, I’ve found that the word “NICE” is one of the most problematic four-letter-words. In terms of damage done to the church, I rank it as way more dangerous than any f-bomb someone might drop.
I’ve tried, but I can’t trace the origins of when “nice” became a Christian value, but we should all rue that day. “Nice” Christians rarely tell the truth if the truth wouldn’t be “politically correct.” They pretend everything is all right, even when their church is in a tailspin. And “Nice” Christians find it offensive to hold someone accountable for their behaviors.
Does your church have a bully who terrorizes church leaders from making decisions that would carry the church forward? When I mention Matthew 18:15–17 to the board, too often I hear, “But it wouldn’t be nice to tell Bully Kelly that she must behave or she has to leave.”
Take a look at the New Testament through realistic eyes. Jesus was kind, but nice? Hardly. He wasn’t above pointing his finger and loudly identifying hypocrites for everyone to see. He never once offered to change his plan or soften his expectations just because someone might be offended. And don’t forget, the “repent or leave the church” idea came from Jesus himself.
What about Paul? Anyone under the delusion that he was nice? “Give that man over to Satan” (1 Cor 5:5) doesn’t sound very nice. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Tweet ThisNot being nice doesn’t give us permission to be mean… we’re called to be “kind” to one another (1 Thess 5:15) and to everyone else, for that matter. But kind is not synonymous with “nice.” It’s not kind to overlook bad behavior – not for the bully, not for the victim, and not for the church. It’s not kind to allow staff or volunteers who say “Yes” to a ministry but don’t have the time or energy (or passion) to bring it to fruition to continue as church leaders.
Nice isn’t an authentic Christian value and the word should be expunged from our vocabulary… or at least it should be if a church plans on being effective, faithful, and sustainable.
Question: How have you seen being “nice” take precedence over being like Christ? Share your thoughts and stories in the Comments section below.
Thank you God bless you!!
I was going to say Nice Article but maybe I better say Good Article. 🙂 And thank you for writing it. Being Nice is difficult in the church. We don’t want to offend anyone or hurt anyone and we feel we must include everyone; however, the “everyone” sometimes gets in the way of of mission and ministry of the church. Sometimes those hard-to-live-with people just need to move on to another church where they can be a better fit. Sometimes we, as church and ministry leaders, just need to snap a wet towel and get things moving.
Good (nice) thoughts.