I have a friend named Tom. Tom is a plumber. Tom is an especially good friend of mine when things go wrong with the plumbing at my house.
Tom doesn’t claim to be a theologian, but he sure does seem to understand the Kingdom of God. See, some time ago Tom went to work for a very rich, mean man. This man had that tangible superiority complex thing going on. In fact, this rich mean man wouldn’t even shake Tom’s hand. How would that make you feel? Tom could have returned evil for evil; Tom could have been bitter. Instead, Tom had a made-up mind that he was only going to return good for evil. That’s was Tom’s personal policy toward said rich mean man.
Tom did the hard, counterintuitive work of mercy. And guess what. Over time, something began to happen. Rich Mean Man really started liking Plumber Tom, and not just liking Tom, but respecting Tom. Rich Mean Man was turning into Rich Nice Man, at least whenever he was exposed to Tom. Now Rich Nice Man shakes Tom’s hand and asks Tom for advice and likes Tom a lot. That’s the power of mercy in the kingdom of God.
Tom lived out the principle of 1 Peter 2:12: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” That word “see” in “see your good deeds” means long observation over time. What if Tom had only been nice to former Rich Mean Man one or two times? Probably nothing. But because Tom persevered in his practice of Kingdom living, the long testimony of a life well-lived had an eventual transforming affect on the guy.
Counterintuitive living isn’t easy. But it sure is powerful.
