Neighborology: Living Out Christ's CompassionSýnishorn

Becoming People of Compassion

The character we need for caring is found in Jesus and the power of our resurrected Savior. We are then able to con­sciously and consistently model His love and do what does not come naturally, that is, minister selflessly, serve with compassion, seek the welfare of others, and love our enemies.

Only by personally knowing Christ’s love and concern are we able to care for others. It is by His “breathing” in us that we are once and forever changed. We move higher and deeper in­to a meaningful relationship with Him, with His help. In this relationship, we know and enter into His care and compas­sion and become part of His incarnated ministry through us on Earth. His heart of compassion asks us to come alongside those in need. In his book The Search for Compassion: Spirituality and Ministry, theolo­gian Andrew Purves says, “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears.” He says that we need to be people of compassion who will not be too quick to take away pain but will have the spiritual and mental toughness to walk alongside another, sharing in their journey to the point where woundedness can be confronted.

Compassion is a hands-on ministry that requires servant hearts. It demands love. Compassion is ministry without limits. It is evangelical, bringing persons to a place where they may “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). Purves writes:

Compassion is the ministry of Jesus Christ by which he enters into another’s brokenness. . . . It means suffering with another. Compassion bridges the gap between social and pastoral ministry. Compassion demands a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our faith and our compassion are a biblical demonstration that Jesus is the Lord of our lives.