Today at church, there was a fellow who happened to be a missionary overseas, first within Indonesia, and now in Belgium. It must be an interesting life to live… I wonder about how one develops their living expenses and the like, but without getting too caught up in the details, I thought I would make a quick posting about the message he left with us.
Though it was a winding and interesting introduction which gave me the impression that he was largely looking at other christians as not good enough or rebirthed enough or something, he eventually landed on the premise that what we need to pursue as Christians and living our walk was simply to breath into others with compassion. He brought a great perspective of using Jesus’s example on earth as a mechanism to articulate how Christ never was demeaning or judging of people at his command; that he was a servant leader and truly compassionate towards their plight.
Christ is compassionate, and as we also work to be compassionate, we show another side to the world. Too many people judge. Too many people live without compassion to their friends, families and loved ones. Too many people live without compassion to the strangers and folks who they do not know well. The live without the love the Christ gave for us.
An interesting thought… How can one (myself) be more compassionate in daily activities? Rather than seeing someone as running down the wrong road, climbing a fruitless ladder, why not see them through eyes of compassion and joy in who they are, who they are created to be, and who they were created by. Having compassion for their present place in the journey empowers and exposes others to a love which we all seek out.
So yeah, let’s put it on thick with the trowel of the spirit: compassion with a double portion, spilling over into the lives of those we come in contact with. Heck, even insomuch that we can be compassionate to ourselves and our closest loved ones.