December 7 marks the commemoration of St. Ambrose on the church calendar. He is remarkable in his own right, but he’s well-known as the person who baptized and mentored St. Augustine. In fact, my favorite passage regarding Ambrose is not something he wrote, but how Augustine first describes him in the Confessions:
“I came to Milan, where the bishop was Ambrose, known throughout the world for his rare excellence, and a reverent worshipper of yours. . . . That man of God took me up as a father takes a newborn baby in his arms, and in the best tradition of bishops, he prized me as a foreign sojourner. I fell in love with him, as it were, not at first as a teacher of truth—as I had no hope for that whatsoever in your church—but simply as a person who was kind to me.” — Confessions 5.23, translated by Sarah Ruden
When I taught Augustine’s Confessions in my theology class at Saint Louis University, I directed my students to Ambrose’s hospitality and kindness toward Augustine as a model for evangelism. Augustine was skilled in rhetoric—he was a professional debater. But when he encountered Ambrose’s embrace of kindness, it broke down his defenses. Augustine says he then “hung on [Ambrose’s] words with great concentration” and found what he said appealing. “But salvation is far off from sinners,” Augustine writes, “such as I was then in my approach; and yet I drew near, little by little and unconsciously.”
In the three years I taught theology, I tried to model Ambrose’s posture for my students, and I discovered (in both their coursework and teacher evaluations) that they were more receptive to the message of Christianity because I showed them kindness and compassion. I knew both because it was a required course and because I surveyed them at the start of each semester, that most of my students were not interested in a theology course and had avoided taking it until now. They did not care how much I knew about the subject, but when I demonstrated how much I cared for them, they were more interested in what I had to say.
Coincidentally, in the Book of Common Prayer 2019, the lectionary reading for December 7 is the conclusion of the Book of Acts. The Apostle Paul finally arrives in Rome, and Luke concludes his account describing Paul’s ministry this way:
“Paul lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” — Acts 28:30-31
Paul “welcomed all,” and the verb Luke uses there carries meanings of “embracing with hospitality.” Paul’s kindness opened doors for boldness in proclaiming the gospel. The same was true for Ambrose, whose embrace of Augustine and bold teaching of the gospel contributed to Augustine’s conversion.
Augustine had no hope in finding truth in the Christian faith, and he makes sure his readers know how resistant he was when he first met Ambrose. For young people today, especially Gen Z, they are especially hungry for truth and meaning, but the last place they will look is the church.
There’s a perception that kindness is “soft,” but what if we followed the examples of the Apostle Paul and Bishop Ambrose, disarming others with a hospitality and compassion accompanied with bold proclamation of the gospel? When indifference or outright hostility are the norm for social interactions, kindness can break through like a miracle. Kindness is bold because it takes effort. And showing kindness toward others can open doors for bold gospel proclamation.