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The Compassionate Neighbor
Brian Mashburn
September 21, 2014
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I Don't Care
The phrase wasn't spoken angrily to hurt someone. It was not spoken flippantly to excuse inaction or disagreement. It wasn't even spoken in resignation to justify quitting. No, this time it was spoken as a confession, an honest, heart-felt, regretful confession of a life-long Christian who had grown numb to the plight of people.
If last week's focus on "noticing people" is the launching pad for being a true neighbor, then this week's focus on compassion is the fuel that turns the duty of loving others into a lifestyle of loving others.
The word "passion" comes from the Latin and means "suffering." The word "compassion" means to "suffer with." The person who does not have it is in danger of some of humanity's worst enemies. Without compassion, the ability to suffer with another in their suffering, self-righteousness knocks at the door. Self-centeredness can take over. The very community experience, the loving mutuality that "church" is made by God to be, can be perverted into an activity we merely attend.
Without compassion, the Christian can easily become a judge of the harvest field instead of a worker within it.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, what was it that allowed a Priest and a Levite to "pass by on the other side"? Were they too busy? Were they unequipped to handle the person's plight? Did the priest say, "my gift is to pray with people," and the Levite says, "my gift is to help people prepare their sacrifices"? Were they scared that the robbers were still close by?
I'm not sure. But I know what allowed the Samaritan to stop. When he saw the man hurting, he felt compassion. It was this that fueled everything that happened next.