What Does Biblical Compassion Look Like?
I recently taught on this for equipping hour at my church, so I wanted to share it with you all. It also happens to be day 1 in my book Daily Calvinism: A 30-Day Devotional Connecting the Doctrines of Grace with Everyday Life.
What were you like before God saved you? Were there sins in your life that were so grotesque, so awful, so embarrassing that you look back and it makes you sick thinking you did or said such things? I think we can all relate to that, no matter the severity of the sin. We all rebelled against God in our own ways; we all sinned against the Lord in various fashions. In the world’s eyes, some sins seem less dramatic than others, but all sins have one thing in common: they are against God, and that is what makes it so severe.
Our unrighteousness, inherited from Adam, plays an important role in how we understand a word today that has been hijacked. That word is compassion. With the knowledge of total depravity in this sin-stricken world, we must have a firm, biblical grasp on what it means to be compassionate. Let’s think about that for a moment.
Like love and tolerance, the word compassion has been distorted to mean something complete different than the real definition. (This has happened to empathy as well!) Compassion, to many in society today, has morphed into something akin to an unconditional affirmation of someone’s desires. They say, “We ought to have compassion on those transitioning” for example. Sure, absolutely. But I don’t believe we have the definition of compassion in mind. For many on the progressive side of culture, compassion is shown merely by approving and affirming. No questions asked. And if we don’t go along for the ride, well, shame on us.
There’s a point to this. Christian, biblical compassion doesn’t look like unconditionally affirming someone. It doesn’t look like incessantly agreeing with another person. Compassion looks like what Jesus did, for He did provide us a few examples.
Jesus had compassion for his friends and wept alongside them at the grave of Lazarus (Jn. 11:33-35). Jesus healed large crowds because he felt compassion toward them due to their suffering (Matt. 14:14). Even more, he saw the crowd was like sheep without a shepherd, and that caused his compassion to grow for them.
In no instances was Jesus’ compassion for people shown as unconditional affirmation of their actions. No, compassion leads to action, and that action is to help others in the specific context. Affirming one’s desires unconditionally is no help at all.
So, what does this mean for us?
First, showing compassion is not optional for Christians. If we are to be like Jesus, we must be compassionate people. We can’t slide by in the Christian life not displaying Christlike compassion to those with whom we interact. We don’t get a freebie on compassionate just because “that’s not our personality.” Living in a world filled with totally-depraved sinners is not excuse to not exemplify compassion, because we once were totally depraved, too. We once walked “in the counsel of the wicked” (Ps. 1:1). We once were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1); we all “once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). It’s much easier to show compassion to others, specifically unbelievers, when we remember our rebellious past.
We also must remember that agreement is not a prerequisite for compassion. I don’t need to have the same worldview as someone in order to show compassion in a specific circumstance. Compassion should be displayed regardless of religion, politics, socio-economic status, and the like. If you give a dollar to the beggar on the corner, you don’t need to ask whether they are Democrat or Republican, nor do you need to know what they plan on doing with your dollar.
We care for the sick, draw near to the brokenhearted, and tend to the downcast because it’s what Jesus did. He was, and is, a compassionate Savior. And we must follow Him in His compassion. Truthfully, being compassionate as followers of Jesus should be easy when we remember God was compassionate to us even while we were His enemies (Rom. 5:10). This is why we can look around us, see the stain of sin everywhere, and still show compassion—because God had compassion on us in our sin.
The biblical reality of total depravity shouldn’t push us away from showing compassion to sinners, but should push us too them. We know the world is wicked and that’s even more reason to show compassion; not only because we, too, can act wicked at times—since we’re still in our flesh—but we once too were opposed to God.
So, go out of your way to show compassion. Volunteer at a homeless shelter; feed the hungry; buy a meal for the person at the street corner; forgive the one who wronged you even if he or she isn’t repentant. What you must do, however, to show biblical compassion is move—do something.
In short, think of others before yourself, and then act accordingly. But let me end with this. The most compassionate thing you can do in life is the one thing everyone needs most: share the gospel. If we are quick to meet someone’s need of food, drink, shelter, or something else, we should be even more quick to meet their need of the gospel. Share the good news of God’s grace with people who have not received Him. Show them their ultimate need in Christ. It’s good to clothe someone or buy a meal for the beggar at the corner; it’s even better to do that and share the gospel with them. Show them their sin and dire need for a Savior, and point them to the beautiful, finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of totally-depraved sinners.
Beautiful post, amen!