Gaza. More than 50 dead people and many wounded. Meanwhile, in Asia, a family attacks churches resulting in destruction and death. But this is just the tip of the veil… Homeless people that we pass by, pretending not to know them, ignoring their suffering. Friends in needs, that by any chance are more reserved, that keep all the anguish to themselves without any interest shown by us.
There’s an expression for all this: it’s lacking compassion. The act of caring for others, of loving and reaching out no matter what or who. And as a general society, but us as Christians, in particular, should be ashamed if compassion is lacking in our midst. Former Christian and now Atheist Joel Justiss claims:
“To be fair, some Christians make amazing sacrifices to relieve the suffering of others. However, I’ve observed a “body of Christ” that provides no convincing evidence that God has any interest in whether or not people have food, health, or freedom from exploitation.”
And he keeps:
“I was troubled by the prevailing attitude among evangelical Christians that serving people’s needs was secondary to “saving them” through the Gospel.”
This can’t be right. This cannot be happening. This is what we are not supposed to do. The body must function as a whole. Paul explains that very well to the church in Corinth. But we still face our issues and compassion is a trait of God we ought to be showing much more.
“Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].” (Isaiah 30:18, AMP)
““But they, our fathers, acted arrogantly;
They stiffened their necks and would not heed Your commandments.
“They refused to listen and obey,
And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them;
So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt.
But You are a God of forgiveness,
Gracious and merciful and compassionate,
[a]Slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness;
And You did not abandon them.” (Nehemiah 9:16-17, AMP)
This is our God. The Everlasting Compassion. The Never Ending Loving One. The Lord who heals and nourishes. Our Redeemer.
U.S. Army Captain G. M. Gilbert, the psychologist assigned to watching the defendants at the Nuremberg trials affirmed:
“In my work with the defendants (at the Nuremberg Trails 1945-1949), I was searching for the nature of evil and I now think I have come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It’s the one characteristic that connects all the defendants, a genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow men. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy.”
James tells us that:
“Pure and unblemished religion [as it is expressed in outward acts] in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit and look after the fatherless and the widows in their distress, and to keep oneself uncontaminated by the [secular] world.” (James 1:27, AMP)
This is what a secular society should be doing. Much more us, Church. Not doing so, is despising those in need, not showing the love that we ought to show as followers of Christ.
On the last note, I’m sharing a Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thought that implies us in acting with compassion and caring for others:
“Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness, and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much. Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more than they are doing now. Christian should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong.”
Let us be bold and compassionate. Full of empathy towards those who are in suffering and are weak. We must not seek power as a target but as a mean to help. Let us pray for those with no incomes, no family, for those who are addicted to something that ruins them… Lut us bend our knees and claim for compassion in our hearts, so being loved we can love and show how to love.
Freecoded 