Your Church Needs You

Photo Attribution: “walking man” By Matthias Rhomberg; CC 2.0

Sadly, compassion, empathy, sympathy, and sacrifice are no longer the norm for the body of Christ. What exactly is our responsibility to other believers?

I think most of us are familiar with Cain’s question in Genesis 4:9, “Am I my brothers keeper?” It has been abused, misinterpreted, and misused many times over the years. If Jesus were to truly face this question head on and answer it we would see from his teaching, and his actions throughout his entire life, he would respond with a loud and clear “YES!” for all of those who consider him Lord. We indeed ARE our brother’s – and sister’s – keeper. As a matter of fact, this idea of caring, concern, and taking action to help others saturates the complete New Testament.

What if we stopped simply saying it and actually did become Christ-like for the sake of others? What if true and authentic love and compassion for others stopped being things we sing about Sunday morning and became how we actually live out our lives?

JAMES 2:15-16

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”

COLOSSIANS 3:12

“As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

1PETER 3:8

“ALL of you, be like-minded, be SYMPATHETIC, love one another, be COMPASSIONATE and HUMBLE” (emphasis added).

And who is it 1 Peter 3:8 and other passages tell us to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, sympathetic, and loving to? Every believer on this earth. Our immediate family and then all fellow Christians. After that, all people that God has created. No one is to be excluded. God wants all Christians to show compassion to those in need.

MARK 10:45

“Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

JESUS SPEAKS ON MEETING OTHERS NEEDS

Those of us who follow Christ should be willing to serve in the same way he did. He set the example for us and teaches this to us clearly. And it’s important to remember, when we are speaking of things regarding God’s kingdom, even simply helping someone with a temporary need will result in an eternal purpose and reward.

Jesus: “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me'” (Matthew 25:34-40).

We see clearly in this passage that our directive, our mission given from Jesus, is to meet the needs of those struggling. When we are obedient with this when we serve them it is tantamount to serving him.

CONCLUSION

It is true that compassion and empathy are deeply emotional feelings that anyone can experience, however, compassion and empathy for the Christian should be coupled with motivation to actually act on those feelings. Let us remember we are instructed to see people as God sees them which will lead us to not only see the need that is there, but also find a way to meet those needs.

Let me end with a very familiar cliche. I am not fond of cliches, but this one applies directly to this discussion and living as we are suppose to will cause it to come alive: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

This was a guest post from Dr. Jeff Hagan.

Jeff is an ordained Christian minister with over 23 years of ministry experience. He has attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Luther Rice Seminary, Tyndale Seminary and a handful of other institutes as well. He has earned several degrees including the Doctor of Christian Education and the Doctor of Theology.