In the new James Gunn Superman movie, the title character claims both to be a punk rock fan and to be motivated by kindness and empathy. At one point, Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet) says that kindness may be “the real punk rock.” I too claim to enjoy punk, although as an early millennial, I enjoy U2, the Clash, the Police, and INXS rather than the Chisel, Amyl and the Sniffers, or Bad Waitress. (I’m honestly not sure if I got those last three names right; I’m not in step with the culture.) Having said that, as a person of faith with multiple disabilities, I am certainly motivated by kindness and fellow feeling. I believe strongly that every person is made in God’s Image, and so—in communities of faith grounded in kindness—all people can really become themselves and fulfill their potential.

In light of that, I want to briefly examine how, according to the Scriptures we venerate, kindness is the truest form of punk rock. How can kindness help us, as believers of all abilities, to embody and empathize with the full Body of Christ? I think that we can find three avenues to the holistic and radical compassion of Christ-likeness, especially in an anxious time like the one we live in now. If you want to read portions of the texts along with me, I’ll examine each part of Scripture in turn to see what it has to say.

First, the Old Testament is full of examples of God’s extraordinary kindness to humankind and creation, and people’s acts of empathy with and for each other. Many Old Testament scholars have written about God’s chesed, or covenant faithfulness, with God’s people. God displays covenant faithfulness with Abram when he asks him to leave Ur for Canaan (Genesis 12:1-4), when he reaffirms his oath with Abram on the journey (Genesis 15:8-16), and when the renamed Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22). In the same way, in a signal act of humility, Ruth clings to her mother-in-law Naomi during a famine, asserting, “Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16, NIV). Likewise, Ruth’s descendant David displays “God’s kindness” when he takes his friend Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, who is “lame in both feet,” into his household during his war with Saul’s house (2 Samuel 9:3-5, 7-10, NIV). When we read all of these passages, we may realize that empathy, the true punk rock, means standing by others even when it’s difficult.

Furthermore, in the Gospels, Jesus exemplifies the engaged compassion that God asks of all God’s creatures. Over a period of three years or so, Jesus heals and teaches many people across diverse social and economic spectra. In particular, at a specific request from a Roman centurion, Jesus heals the man’s servant of a form of paralysis. Remarking on the centurion’s steadfast faith, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith” (Matthew 8:5-13, esp. v. 10, NIV). Jesus also heals a woman with a flow of blood, one who touches his cloak so surreptitiously that he needs to ask his friends, “Who touched me?” (Mark 5:25-34). Later, Jesus engages compassionately with one of the thieves who hangs beside him on a cross (Luke 23:40-43), and—at great length and depth—chooses to reinstate Peter as one of his apostles, even after Peter betrays him (John 21:15-19). Jesus sticks with his loved ones through thick and thin, even unto death, and emphasizes that compassion and empathy mean helping people across difference and in times of great limitation. Thus, Jesus is a primary example of kindness, the real punk rock.

Finally, elsewhere in the New Testament, Peter, Paul, and the other apostles exhort their friends around the Mediterranean to exercise compassion similar to Christ’s. For instance, in Acts 10, after a series of divinely-inspired dreams about dietary laws, Peter evangelizes and baptizes another Roman centurion, this one named Cornelius—nominally, one of the first significant Gentile converts to Jesus’s Way. Similarly, in his formative missionary work with multiple churches in Greece and Asia Minor, Paul observes that kindness like God’s is an aspect of forgiveness: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32, NIV). In the same vein, after reminding his friends in Colosse that “[in Christ] there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free,” Paul coaxes his colleagues to “clothe [themselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:11-12, NIV). To the apostles, then, kindness may resemble a piece of clothing—a pair of sandals, a tunic, or even a vividly-coloured superhero’s cape.

Let me summarize if I can. In what we’ve read through together, I’ve indicated that kindness like Christ’s—the real punk rock—has a few significant meanings for our anxious age. Abraham, Ruth, and David demonstrate that kindness means standing for your convictions, and advocating for others, even when it’s difficult. Like Jesus, too, we can exercise compassion that reaches out to others in their (our!) difference. Lastly, as the apostles indicate, kindness may be as simple as sharing a meal, or putting on a particular disposition as one dons a piece of clothing. I hope that you find these reflections helpful, and that they inspire you to act with compassion like Jesus’s in your daily life.