I had to do a compassion essay for my brown belt...and here it is for all to see.
Today’s society presents itself as an oxymoron on the subject of compassion. Everywhere we look we see degradation and squalor whether it is spiritual or physical. The emotional consequences of this paradox of the human condition are in stark contrast with the picture that is shown in the Bible of what the intentions of a “loving God” are. Yet Christians hold to the ideal that they are living as pictures of compassion.
Many point to these idealists and immediately lay blame on them for the condition of the world. Perhaps we are to blame, especially in America. We rally around causes which express our anger, phobias, and views on controversial subjects without thoughts about the people who are on the other side. We are quick to attack homosexuals, adulterers, murderers (including mothers who have sought abortion) and even common thieves.
We have supported locking them up, banning them from our institutions, and effecting an excommunication on them before we even knew them. I urge you, step back and see what has happened that these people are doing these things. They have been lied to! Our socialized education system has told them that this is the natural order of things; our politicians urge an acceptance of their condition, as though it were a natural occurrence. And our reaction has been nothing short of scandalous.
Yes we reacted with the proper values in mind for a society of believers, but we have not done as Jesus asked and loved our fellow man. Jesus did not condemn the adulterers or the thieves (tax collectors), and he certainly does not condemn you. He simply reached out to them on a personal level and said, who you were does not define who you are or have to be. He gave them hope.
We stand around these sinners and we yell, crucify, crucify! We have given up on them and told them they are a lost cause. Then we turn around and ask them why they keep on sinning. We failed to show them love. We discussed earlier that the characteristics of biblical love include, perseverance, kindness, and patience. In order to show love we must also show compassion, and we have not even come close.
While I know that this subject and the way that I presented it are coarse, I feel that it is tantamount to my walk and it should be to yours. Everyday I walk through a dark society which is getting exactly what it currently begs for, the absence of God. The question that is always on my mind is, why does society so hate that which it so desperately needs? The complexity of this subject cannot be explored fully in one man’s lifetime, but I feel part of the problem is ours. We are a mostly compassionless and vengeful people, who call ourselves Christians, and act as though we have no use for those who do not know God.
Open your eyes! God’s love is bred out of compassion for us, his children. God’s love is the motivation for his acts of compassion and his compassion is the act of love which we so cherish. If we are reflections of God’s love then why don’t we reflect his compassion? |
