Matthew 9:36 “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless.”
I was on a short-term mission trip in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We were trying to ‘minister’ to street children. But these weren’t cute little kids. They were tough, hardened, aggressive and dangerous. We were approached by a 10-year-old in broad daylight and he exploded in hateful invective. He said to our 6ft4in leader: “You may be big and you may be strong, but there’s only one of you.” Then his gang attacked us, pelting us with glass bottles as we fled to seek police protection. It was the most frightening experience of my life. That night, as a team, we processed the experience. I simply wept for those kids’ brokenness. But then the team leader said something that has been etched deep in my soul ever since that day:
“Pity cries, and then goes away. Compassion stays.”
Pity often assumes a place of superiority and looks down. Compassion comes alongside, shoulder to shoulder. From the Latin ‘com pati’, ‘to suffer with’.
My world was rocked, and I didn’t want to just walk away. I had to leave, but I carried on being involved, raising funds by selling my CD collection. I’m not saying that to impress you. I just had to do something. I left, but in another sense I stayed.
We get bombarded by images of scrawny dying kids on TV, by pleas for our money, by endless needs in our broken world. It’s easy to harden our hearts and just switch TV channels.
My advice is: ask God what he wants you to get involved in. You can’t respond to every need. But you can definitely pick one person, one place, one issue – in your area or across the oceans – and let it get under your skin, break your heart, make you weep, and decide to stay.
Lord, I choose to stay. Move me to tears, and beyond that, to compassionate action. Amen!
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