The Kindness You Were Never Shown

The First Step👣

I’ve spent the last few weeks writing about what the Gospel is not, and the ways it’s been hijacked, weaponized, and distorted. But today, I want to write about what it is.

Because for every moment the Church pushed someone away, Jesus pulled someone in. For every time His name was used to shame, Jesus used it to heal. And for every platform built to exclude, Jesus sat on the ground with the ones the world tried to erase.

What does it really feel like to come to Jesus?

You don’t get a spotlight. You don’t get a sermon. You don’t get a checklist. You get a look. A pause. A kindness. A healing.

And when you think you deserve rejection, He offers rest.

The Pebble in My Path🚶🏽‍➡️

Here is what I cannot shake.

So many people have walked into churches hoping to feel peace, only to walk out feeling smaller. They came looking for love and found conditions. They came to be healed and were handed judgment.

And maybe that is why so many have given up. Not on God, but on what they were told God was.

They were hurt by people using His name to protect their own comfort. They were told they had to clean up before they could come close. They were taught that God only smiles at perfection.

But when we look at Jesus, we see something completely different.

He did not avoid the broken. He moved toward them. He did not avoid the complicated. He met them in their mess. He did not sit on a stage waiting for applause. He sat on the ground and listened.

When Jesus walked the earth, He was surrounded by people whose religion had already given up on.

And yet, those were the ones who felt most at home in His presence.

The Compass🧭

If you have ever wondered what Jesus does when you show up hurt, afraid, or unworthy, look at the stories.

There was a Samaritan woman who had been through five relationships. Jesus met her at a well and asked her for water, treating her with dignity that no one else gave her.

There was a paralyzed man lying by a pool called Bethesda. Jesus did not blame him for being stuck. He asked if he wanted to be well.

There was a tax collector named Zacchaeus. The crowd hated him, but Jesus looked up and said, “I am coming to your house.”

There was a woman caught in adultery, humiliated in front of everyone. Jesus stopped the crowd from throwing stones and said, “Neither do I condemn you.”

And there was a dying criminal next to Him on a cross. With his final breath, Jesus promised him paradise.

Every time someone came to Jesus, they found kindness.

The ones who were ignored found attention. The ones who were condemned found compassion. The ones who were told they were too far gone found forgiveness.

Even the Pharisees, the religious elite of His time, were not rejected. But He did confront them. Not because He hated them, but because they were misrepresenting His Father. They used Scripture as a mirror to admire themselves instead of a window to see others.

Jesus did not get angry because they believed in God. He got angry because they used God to elevate themselves and humiliate others.

That was the one thing He could not tolerate.

He did not flip tables because people were searching for God. He flipped them because others were selling Him.

The Open Trail🛣️

So what does it really feel like to come to Jesus?

It feels like being seen for the first time. It feels like hearing your name spoken without shame. It feels like breathing again after holding your breath for years.

He does not push you away. He invites you in. He does not look at what you have done wrong. He looks at the pain that brought you there.

The world may only know how to cancel, criticize, and compare. But Jesus knows how to restore.

You do not need to have the right words. You do not need to have a plan. You just need to come.

And when you do, you will not find an angry God waiting to punish you. You will find a Savior ready to embrace you.

If the Church has ever made you feel unworthy, know this. That is not how He feels about you.

If others told you that you are too broken, know this. He specializes in broken things.

If you have been told that you do not belong, know this. You already do.

Because when you finally come to Jesus, you discover the truth that religion often hides. He never looked away.

Stay barefoot. Stay honest. Stay close to the ground.

-Barefoot Gospel👣