How Do We Grow In Compassion?
As Jesus began his ministry He was bombarded by starvation, disease, oppression, poverty, and hopelessness. Jesus had just begun preaching repentance and that God’s kingdom was coming. This was important because his people Israel had fallen into sin, had sold themselves into slavery to sin. Making matters worse, their leaders (whether the scribes, Pharisees or Sadducees) didn’t have the necessary compassion to try and help the people. The Pharisees were too hypocritical and judgmental, and the Sadducees oppressed them for the sake of their own power. We read in Matthew 9:35-38 how this situation filled the Christ with pain and compassion:
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (ESV)
Jesus, the image of the invisible God, was full of compassion. The Jewish leaders? They had complacency at best and contempt at worst. I preached on this text at Holly Hill 7/3/22 (you can listen to that sermon here: https://youtu.be/14aSE8sHJlw) because I am confident the church today is living in the same kind of moment. We can choose between compassion, complacency, or contempt. The fields are ripe for harvest and our communities are full of people both seeking God and trapped in suffering. How will we respond as Christians? Jesus is quite clear: His disciples must become shepherds guiding and caring for the lost sheep. There is a lot to unpack here, but today is focused on growing in compassion. If we can let the Spirit fill us with compassion, and let that compassion motivate us, the work will follow. With compassion we can change the course of eternity.
Four Ways to Grow in Compassion:
#1 Courage
Courage is often defined as the ability to do something we are afraid of doing. Compassion takes courage because we can struggle to admit we lack compassion, and disguise our lack to make ourselves feel better. Even more courage is required to cast aside our selfish nature and embrace the selfless compassion of Christ. We must ask God to transform us by his Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-21) into more compassionate people, and courageously submit to His transforming power. This is guaranteed to push us outside our comfort zones and be extremely difficult. In Matthew 10, Jesus followed his sheep-saving commission with a warning of persecution. The life of the apostle Paul is another incredible example of this. He gave up comfort, authority, and safety in exchange for hardship and suffering. Read 2 Corinthians 11 and the book of Acts. Paul suffered because he was a shepherd caring for the lost sheep. If you want compassion, you need the courage to do what is difficult for the cause of Christ. Sacrificing comfort for compassion is what Jesus meant when He said, “take up your cross and follow me” (see Matthew 16:24-25).
Being a shepherd is no small undertaking: It take courage to grow in compassion because, “sheep without a shepherd,” typically get themselves into trouble and find themselves in rough shape. They are dirty, malnourished, dehydrated, and often injured. Being a shepherd is dangerous, hard work, and a full-time job. Working with lost sheep is extremely inconvenient. It takes courage to dedicate your life to finding lost sheep, it requires great sacrifice.
#2 Curiosity
How can curiosity help us grow in compassion? Curious means eager to know or learn. We must be curious about the “sheep without a shepherd.” Curiosity also means we believe something is worth knowing. Too often, we’re not curious because we’ve decided someone else’s situation is beneath our interest, or that we already know all we need to know about “those people.” When we interact with people who are poor, downtrodden, and lost, we should be curious about who they are and where they’ve been in life. What is it like to walk in their shoes? What are their feelings? How do they experience their reality? Jesus KNEW what the people experienced not only because He was the Son of God, but because He lived among them. He discussed their problems with them, He healed their sicknesses and cast out their demons. He knew people’s plight because He knew people. Christians could take a curious stance and ask, “What’s that like for you?” Then, actively listen without judgment and try to understand the other person’s lived experiences. Our empathy and compassion would overflow! This doesn’t mean we bend the Gospel because the lost have painful emotions, but it does mean we honor the painful experience of being a lost sheep. Only when we make people feel heard can we actually lead them to the healing Christ offers.
#3 Collaboration
Collaboration is a fancy word for working together. What does ‘working together’ have to do with compassion? Well, a few things make collaboration especially important to growing in compassion. First, we need to collaborate with the lost. The next step, after courage and curiosity, is to work collaboratively with the lost on solving their problems. Unfortunately, when interacting with lost sheep Christians often take an expert position and talk at people, giving orders rather than engaging in conversation. Not only is this ineffective, it breeds a powerful false sense of superiority. We start to forget that we’re sinners saved by grace working under the great Shepherd. We start to believe the lie that we’re superior because we know The Way. Then, we start placing the blame on lost sheep for being lost, while forgetting that we were once lost as well and we didn’t save ourselves! This attitude quenches our compassion and breeds an arrogance that turns people away from the Gospel. We need to learn to work collaboratively with the lost sheep, because we ourselves are just beggars pointing other beggars towards the Bread of Life.
Our internal collaboration as a church family is vital as well. It is God’s design that we work together as a congregation to reach the lost (1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4). Two of the most important benefits to this divine arrangement are that it makes the work effective, and it further enhances our growth together as disciples towards the image of Christ. Collaborating on gospel projects for the lost sheep, God will use our work to transform us to be like Christ. Jesus had compassion because he mingled and worked among the crowds. If Christians will do this together, we will be known for our compassion and love (see John 13:35).
#4 Commitment
Finally, if we want to grow in compassion, we must be committed. Committed in what ways? First, we must be committed to reaching lost sheep. Similar to courage above, the reality is that it’s difficult to shepherd lost sheep. You must let your commitment push you to work with lost sheep when you feel discouraged and the job gets difficult. Also, we must be committed to loving God by following Jesus in the power of the Spirit. What we are undertaking at Holly Hill is no small task. There will be peaks of excitement, but also deep valleys of discouragement. If we are committed to God, He will sustain us by the power of the Spirit and keep us going when the work makes us want to quit. Jesus said in John 15 that He is the vine – the trunk of a grape vine that feeds the plant – while we are the branches where fruit grows. If we stay connected to Him, we will have all the resources and nourishment we need to bear fruit. Bearing fruit is simply a different analogy that means in practice the same thing as becoming a shepherd for lost sheep. If we want to grow in compassion, we must grow in our commitment to loving God by following Jesus in the power of the Spirit. This commitment will strength our spiritual health and provide the nourishment we need to bear the fruit of compassion.
Compassion is a key attribute of Jesus. If our goal as disciples is to be better transformed into Jesus, then we must develop compassionate hearts. I hope you will join me this week and practice courage, curiosity, collaboration, and commitment. If we will be faithful to submit to Him, to let Him transform our hearts and mind, God by His Spirit will accomplish the rest.