NET Institute

Rallying The Armies of Compassion

In January 2001, one of the first actions of newly elected President George W. Bush was the announcement of the formation of the White House Office for Faith Based and Community Initiatives. He set the context with these words.

“Government has a solemn responsibility to help meet the needs of poor Americans and distressed neighborhoods, but it does not have a monopoly on compassion. American is richly blessed by the diversity and vigor of neighborhood healers: civic, social, charitable, and religious groups. These quiet heroes lift people’s lives in ways that are beyond government’s know-how, usually on shoestring budgets, and they heal our nation’s ills one heart and one act of kindness at a time.

The indispensable and transforming work of faith-based and other charitable service groups must be encouraged. Government cannot be replaced by charities, but it can and should welcome them as partners. We must heed the growing consensus across America that successful government social programs work in fruitful partnership with community serving and faith-based organizations. ….. The paramount goal must be compassionate results, not compassionate intentions.” (emphasis mine)

My friend said with a smile, “Imagining an Army of Compassion is like trying to picture ‘Warring Sheep’. The very juxtaposition of the words themselves supports new possibilities.” In the last four years the words “faith based initiative” have indeed opened up new doors and new partnerships to those who hear the call to live and express their faith through loving involvement and acts of service to people beyond the four walls of their church. People of faith are learning new skills and new ways of serving people and families who are struggling with overwhelming problems. The Bible often refers to struggling people as those who are “poor and needy”.

This is a point in time when many followers of Christ are considering how to be a light on a hill that gives glory to God. People who have personally experienced the Father’s love for themselves are now discovering His great love for people in their neighborhoods and cities. Ministries are emerging that provide: support for single mothers and battered women and children; after school tutoring; help for families of the incarcerated; a range of life changing support groups; mentoring young people caught in the juvenile justice system; Christ centered addiction services; job and financial skills; assistance with immigration issues and English lessons as well as help with food, clothing and emergency housing. Creativity, a sense of purpose and impact mark these ministries who welcome much needed volunteers, prayer and financial support.

More believers are awakening to the reality that people do not care what you believe until they know how much you care. Religious stereotypes in the media are often superficial, manipulative, hypocritical, uncaring, judgmental and, at worst, abusive. We often reinforce these negative stereotypes by our tendency to define and publicize our positions in terms of what and who we are AGAINST. It appears that many Christians believe that our responsibility to “the world that God so loved” is limited to “telling them what to do”.

Millions of citizens who have no knowledge of God or His Gospel have limited access to or evidence of His great love for them. There is a bleak void in culture when God’s people withdraw from society because of a super spiritual or subculture mentality. God intends for His great resources of people, talents, finances, biblical wisdom, creativity and practical caring to be released into the earth through godly relationships, deeds and counsel. A false subculture mentality causes our churches to become isolated islands where we endeavor to protect ourselves and our families from a sinful and dangerous world. The primary focus becomes striving to feel “safe” physically and theologically.

There is striking evidence of an awakening to the realization that God desires His love and power to be expressed in the world through good deeds and good words. A growing number of thoughtful and biblically challenging books on our call to service are available. (See the list at the end.) Before ministry leaders can decide the pros and cons of partnering with civic or governmental agencies it is vital that we understand Biblical compassion and the call to loving involvement. What biblical mandates in our religious heritage motivate contemporary followers of Christ to move beyond individualism and consumerism to lay their lives down for the needs of others? Aren’t people “poor and needy” because of their own sin, bad choices (addiction) and therefore suffering the consequences? Is it possible to truly love and serve unlovable “problem people”?

Proverbs 14:31 says, “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Proverbs 19:17 agrees, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD and He will reward (repay) him for what he has done.”

These verses teach us that God considers injury done to or ignoring the needs of the poor are personal affronts to Him. Likewise, when we are kind, providing genuine assistance to the needy, that He sees it as a personal service to Him. We know God’s character through His revealed names such as Jehovah-Shalom (God our peace) and Jehovah-Jireh (God our provider). Reading through Psalms we see that God wants to be known for the way He loves the needy. Psalm 68:5 says, “A father to the fatherless and a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” which speaks directly to the intense struggles of single mothers. In Psalm 9:9 God is named as “a refuge to the oppressed.”

We read about Jesus the King in Psalm 72, “He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy… He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity…and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.”

Often people remember a phrase that Jesus used in Mathew 26: 6-12, “The poor you will always have with you,” as a way to disregard obvious social needs in their community. But He said these words in the context of rebuking his disciples who disdained the woman who sacrificially poured out her precious ointment in the alabaster jar to anoint Him prophetically for burial. The Gospels reveal many such times when Jesus’ disciples missed the true spiritual meaning of His words and actions.

Jesus’ own personal identification with human suffering is undeniable. His words in Mathew 25:31-46 are chillingly clear that our actions toward the “poor” will have consequences. Verses 34-40 read, “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….. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Jesus told those who did not do these things, “depart from Me, you who are cursed….”

When followers of Christ provide social assistance to those in need we may be doing many of the same actions as a “social worker” or “addiction counselor” but the Gospels clearly teach a deeper reality. When Mother Teresa was asked “how is it possible for you to discover Christ under the appearance of alcoholics and drug addicts, as you say you do?” she answered this way.

“None of us has the right to condemn anyone. Even though we see some people doing something bad, we don’t know why they are doing it. Jesus invites us to not pass judgment. Maybe we are the ones who have helped make them what they are. We need to realize that they are our brothers and sisters. That leper, that drunkard, and that sick person is our brother because he too has been created for a greater love.
This is something that we should never forget. Jesus Christ identifies himself with them and says, “Whatever you did to the least of my brethren, you did it to me.” That leper, that alcoholic, and that beggar is my brother. Perhaps it is because we haven’t given them our understanding and love that they find themselves on the streets without love and care. I believe that we should realize that poverty doesn’t only consist in being hungry for bread, but rather it is a tremendous hunger for human dignity. We need to love and to be somebody for someone else. This is where we make our mistake and shove people aside. Not only have we denied the poor a piece of bread, but by thinking that they have no worth and leaving them abandoned in the streets, we have denied them the human dignity that is rightfully theirs as children of God. They are my brothers and sisters as long as they are there. And why am I not in their place? This should be a very important question. We could have been in their place without having received the love and affection that has been given to us. …. I think we should examine our own conscience before judging the poor, be they poor in sprit or poor in materials goods.” (One Heart Full of Love, p.130, emphasis mine.)

The Judeo-Christian tradition clearly predates and under girds this short season of “faith based initiatives.” We are all invited to participate in some way to make a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of hurting American men, women and children. Make a difference, support the Armies of Compassion.