Niceness is not a fruit of the spirit. Kindness is. Nice people try to get along with everyone including those who live compromised lives full of sin and won’t stand up to evil because they want everyone to like them and get along with everyone. Jesus had lots of enemies and upset many religious leaders and stirred up a lot of people because he called out sin and evil and told them to repent.
The word “nice” has undergone a dramatic transformation over 700 years, evolving from a negative term meaning “ignorant” or “foolish” in the 13th century to its modern meaning of pleasant or kind. Originating from the Latin word nescius (which means “not knowing”), it passed through Old French and Middle English with meanings that included foolish, fussy, dainty, and precise before finally settling on a positive connotation in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Satan wants Christians to allow those who operate in the Jezebel spirit to control others in the church their marriages. He wants those who are evil to do whatever they want and Christians to behave nicely and tolerate sin and look the other way and not upset the religious establishment who are compromised. Jesus cared about truth and righteousness more than making and keeping friends and having people like Him. Jesus had no patience for unrepentant, greedy, prideful, sexually impure and selfish men who took advantage of others. When he saw moneychangers and merchants selling animals in the temple courtyard he “made a whip, drove them from the temple area, and overturned their tables” (John 2).
This was not a fit of uncontrolled rage. Jesus didn’t run through the courtyard screaming and flipping cages (which would have injured the animals inside). Instead, Jesus was totally in control: he took the time to make a cord with which to herd the larger animals out of the courtyard. He overturned money-changing tables and ordered the people to take their birdcages out (so the birds would not be injured), and barred them from coming back in to exploit the temple visitors. He didn’t care that he was inconveniencing and offending people or messing up their business. They were the ones who were wrong, for desecrating a holy space by daring to use their wrongful business practices on humble travelers who only wanted to worship God. And he wasn’t afraid to call them out and stop them.
Jesus also had no patience for religious hypocrites. He criticized the Jewish religious leaders for holding on to empty traditions while ignoring their fellow human beings’ very real needs. He demonstrated through his example how true religious leaders ought to behave, how they ought to care for those under their authority. Some of the things he said to these oppressors could not be described as “nice” in any way. He called them vipers and white washed tombs. Jesus didn’t care about being nice. He cared about truth & righteousness, about waking the religious leaders up to their selfishness, pride and hypocrisy, and giving them a chance to repent and behave godly. At times, people can be won over with gentle words. At times, they need the truth spoken to them to help them to wake up. Jesus did both.
During Jesus’ 3 1/2 years of ministry, Jesus touched and healed social outcasts. He defended women who were being criticized by arrogant men. He raised the dead. But he also made a lot of people mad. So much so that they eventually killed him. From a young age, most children are taught to “be nice.” Which includes everything from being polite (say “thank you,” don’t ask awkward questions, don’t talk about religion or politics during dinner parties) or to overlook those who are in sin.
We do it all the time, either because we want to look good in spectators’ eyes, or because we want to avoid conflict.
Jesus was not afraid of what people thought, nor was he afraid of conflict. He had no problems breaking the status quo, pointing out people who were doing or saying wrong things, and confronting arrogant religious leaders who were hurting the people they were supposed to help. He also didn’t care about being politically correct or offending. Many times, after healing someone sick, Jesus would say “go and sin no more, or else something worse might happen to you.” He knew they needed to be walking in the fruit of the spirit, holiness and righteousness so they could go to heaven. Obedience matters. So don’t be nice….speak the truth just like Jesus did.
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