Compassion without Compromise
By
Susan Klein
“Be
kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ
God forgave you.” Ephesians
4:32 (NIV)
Our society is all about encouraging compassion. “Give to the
United Way.” “Help the hurricane victims.” “Donate to Coats For Kids.” Whether
it’s in our own backyard or overseas, if there is a need, Americans want to
step in and help. In fact, as Christ-followers, Scripture exhorts us to exhibit
the same kind of compassion that our heavenly Father bestows upon us. But is
our compassion truly like His?
As I peruse my Bible, I see many examples of God’s compassion,
also referred to as mercy. Hmm…mercy implies forgiveness. And, forgiveness
implies an acknowledgement of sin. Am I possibly missing something in my
compassion? I once heard a speaker talk about loving our neighbors as
ourselves. He boldly questioned if, while in our showing love to people, we are
actually “loving them to hell?” In other words, are we so caught up exclusively
in the “acts” of compassion that we are forgetting to share the “message” of
compassion? True love is God sending Christ to die for sinners so that they
aren’t condemned to a horrific eternity. True compassion on my part is sharing
that message with the lost. It’s leading people to the God of all compassion.
If I work hard to show acts of kindness and love to someone, but I show no
regard for his or her salvation, am I compromising the truth of compassion? Of
course, there are definitely times when we are called to simple acts of
kindness without sharing the gospel, but God also presents times when we are to
share a bit more.
Our pastor has been taking us through the book of Romans.
Recently, I was greatly convicted by Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes…” (NIV). I learned this verse years ago while helping my kids memorize
it for AWANA. I’ve always believed I’d never be ashamed of the gospel if
challenged about my faith. But as I read it this time, I was convicted that
“not sharing it” when presented with an opportunity is practically the same as
“being ashamed of it.” God showed me that in my recent acts of compassion for a
dying unbeliever, I have not actually shared the gospel message of forgiveness.
I had to ask some friends to hold me accountable, to not “love this friend to
hell.”
In our compassion, we must be careful not to compromise. In
our loving on people, let’s be careful to also compassionately direct them to
the One who grants mercy and forgiveness.
GOING DEEPER:
Will you accept the challenge to not compromise in
your compassion?
FURTHER READING:
Susan is married to Mark,
and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies, writing, and
tutoring with the Literacy Council.
