Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Kindness in a Hurried World.
Would you stop to help someone in need if you were running late? That's the challenging question at the heart of today's reflection on the Good Samaritan parable. We explore a fascinating experiment conducted by a seminary professor who tested his students' compassion while they rushed to preach sermons about helping others. The results were both surprising and convicting—when pressed for time, even these future spiritual leaders walked past someone clearly in need of assistance.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. During Jesus' time of ministry, he told many wonderful stories. One of my favorites is the story of the Good Samaritan as recorded in Luke, chapter 10. I like this story because it always makes me think which of the guys in the story really truly would I be, particularly if I was in a rush to get somewhere to do something. Would I be the great Samaritan who would come in and help, or would I be one of the others who would ignore and pass by? On the other side? I like to think that I'd be the good guy, but I'm not always quite so sure. I want to tell you a story from Tim Hansel and an interesting experiment that took place.
Speaker 1:One semester a seminary professor set up his preaching class in an unusual way. He scheduled his students to preach on the parable of the Good Samaritan and on the day of the class he choreographed his experiment so that each student would go, one at a time, from one classroom to another where he or she would preach a sermon. The professor gave some students 10 minutes to go from one room to another, and to others he allowed less time, forcing them to rush. In order to meet the schedule, each student, one at a time, had to walk down a certain corridor and pass by a homeless person who was deliberately planted there, obviously in need of some sort of aid. The results were surprising and offered a powerful lesson to the class. The percentage of those good men and women who stopped to help was extremely low, especially for those who were under the pressure of a shorter time period. The tighter the schedule, the fewer were those who stopped to help the indigent man. The fewer were those who stopped to help the indigent man. When the professor revealed his experiment, you can imagine the impact on that class of future spiritual leaders. Here they were rushing to preach a sermon on the Good Samaritan and they had walked past the beggar at the heart of the parable. The lesson for them and all of us, is we must have eyes to see as well as hands to help, or we may never help at all.
Speaker 1:Ephesians 4.32 tells us to be kind to one another, tenderhearted forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. You see, kindness is not just a call to be nice. It is a call to show deep, christ-like compassion to people. Sometimes we're just too distracted or too focused on something else to recognize the times when we really should be kind.
Speaker 1:So this morning I'm going to give us three practical ways that we can be kind or kinder to the people around us. The first one is just learn to listen. Sometimes the kindest thing that we can do is listen. In a world where everyone wants to be heard, be the person who can sit and listen. Secondly, speak with love.
Speaker 1:We all know that words have power. We need to use them to encourage and build up and not tear down. Even when you disagree with someone, the way we talk can remain respectful and kind. And thirdly, look for ways to show your kindness. Whether it's helping a neighbor with yard work or volunteering your time at church or simply offering to run an errand for a friend, these small acts of service can be very powerful expressions of kindness.
Speaker 1:And just one more thing the Bible also tells us that being kind to people is not only a benefit to them, but when we are kind, it benefits us as well. Proverbs 11, verse 17 says your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you. Think about it just for a minute. When we do something kind or good for somebody, doesn't it usually make you feel awfully good as well? It amazes me the way God has made us.
Speaker 1:When it looks like we might be losing out, when we're giving or doing something for somebody else, god turns it around, and instead of us feeling like we might be losing out, when we're giving or doing something for somebody else, god turns it around, and instead of us feeling like we've lost, we often feel like we are the ones who have been blessed. So as we start today, let's think about how we can be kind to people. Maybe there's someone at work that usually irritates you and maybe you try to avoid, or you've spoken to more sharply than you want. Let's choose to be kind and to show the love of Christ to people around us. Have a great day, my friends, and we will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for joining us today, and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday, right here at Starting Right, with Danny Mac.
