The Compelling Power of Compassion

The compassion of Christ, which has been placed in our hearts and that God desires to release through our actions, is a quality that will compel people to seek out the Lord and come into a saving knowledge of Jesus. In 1st Peter 4, we read:
8And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."9Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.10As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Each of us has a great capacity to sin, but we have an even greater capacity to walk in the righteousness of God, activated by being in a right relationship with Jesus Christ.   When we recognize that God's grace and mercy have been made available to and poured out toward us, then we can be extremely compassionate toward other people.   We can reach out with authenticity and seek to build bridges with those whose lifestyles we do not endorse, but who could possibly be drawn to the overwhelming grace of God as a result of our obedience and demonstration of God's love.

In Colossians 3, we see clear instructions about demonstrating the qualities that God has enabled us to possess:
12Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;13bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.14But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Do you have your green on today?   After all, it's St. Patrick's Day, which is set aside to commemorate one of the most effective evangelists ever.  The March 17 feast day was declared in the early 17th century and remembers Patrick as the one who led the fifth-century Christian mission to Ireland.  David Mathis writes on the legacy of St. Patrick at the Desiring God website.  He states that unlike Britain, the Emerald Isle was beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire. The Irish were considered uncivilized barbarians, and many thought their illiteracy and volatile emotionalism put them outside the reach of the gospel.

Mathis writes:

But Patrick knew better. In a strange and beautiful turn of providence, he had spent six years among them as a captive, learned their language, and developed a heart for the Irish. Like Joseph sold into slavery to one day save Egypt and his brothers (Genesis 50:20), so God sent Patrick into slavery to ready Ireland for a coming salvation.

Referencing the work of George Hunter and his book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Mathis writes that "Patrick knew the Irish well enough to engage them where they were, and build authentic gospel bridges into their society and culture. He wanted to see the gospel grow in Irish soil, rather than pave it over with a Roman road."

John Burke, Pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, has a powerful piece about the overcoming love of Christ on the Charisma News website.  In an excerpt from a book, he tells the story of Amy, who came to church with her lesbian girlfriend.

“I came on a mission to shock people,” Amy admits. “Rachel and I would hold hands in front of people, but instead of the disgusted looks of contempt we expected, people met eyes with us and treated us like real people. So we started coming to church weekly. We kept moving closer to the front each week, trying to get a reaction so that we’d be rejected sooner rather than later. When we couldn’t shock people, we stopped trying and started learning."

“Not long after that, Rachel and I stopped seeing each other, but I kept coming to church because I was searching for something,” Amy admits. “I definitely wasn’t looking to change. It wasn’t my lesbian lifestyle that I was bringing to God, but I wondered if God had answers to my deeper longings. Problem was, I didn’t trust God at all!

“The more I listened and learned about the teachings of Jesus, the more I started to actually believe that God really did love me. I heard more and more about being His masterpiece, and in time, I actually started to believe it. The more I believed God actually could see something of value in me, the more I trusted Him.”

Amy is now a ministry leader at the church, helping people experience God's wholeness.   Burke makes the excellent point that Jesus is not shocked by the shocking things people do.  Amy was greeted with a non-judgmental compassion as she began to attend the church.

There's a great word for us today:  We have to be careful that we look beyond the shock and reflect the Savior.  As Mathis points out about St. Patrick, he was chastised for spending time with people who were considered to be gross sinners.  Burke wants us to know that, "if you truly recognize how much it cost God to forgive you, it will flood your heart with love for God and others who need more of the same." He says:

It’s all about love! Not a love that ignores the mud and the damage that destroys God’s Masterpiece, but a love that recognizes how much loving mercy God has given a messed-up person like me!

That great love brings grace and truth together to give hope to a broken world in need of forgiveness and restoration.

We can be challenged to clothe ourselves with compassion and to recognize that every single person that attends your church and my church is a extreme sinner in need of the extreme salvation that Jesus died to purchase for you and me.   Just as we have become recipients of the grace of God, so we are called to demonstrate that grace and mercy in order to spread the love of Christ with authenticity and compassion.

God's people were spread out throughout the River Region this past weekend, as dozens of churches participated in the Great Day of Service.   I had a chance to tag team with some of the ministry and media leadership from Frazer United Methodist Church, and saw compassion in action at a variety of locations.   I have coverage on today's edition of The Meeting House on Faith Radio.