The greatest force that keeps us from acting with compassion isn’t apathy—it’s religion. Religion compartmentalizes our faith into safe little expressions of daily or weekly activity. We give our time to a church, read the Bible in the morning, and maybe even tithe—fulfilling our religious obligations in order to distract ourselves from having to consider how we might live out Jesus’ incarnated compassion in a needy world. Religion doesn’t require us to get our hands dirty. It certainly doesn’t call for any grit. It asks us only to pay our dues and check off our boxes, and then it leaves us free to get on with our real lives.
This has been going on in the faith community for centuries—and God hates it.
God hates it so much that he spoke to the nation of Israel through the prophet Amos, warning them against playing the religious game while ignoring the needs of people right in front of them who were hurting in Amos 5: 21-24:
I hate all your show and pretense—The hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice of peace offerings.
Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.
Somewhere along the line, the Israelites gave more attention to praying for those in need than to be present with them. They grew content with reaching out to God through their songs and offerings while refusing to reach out to their neighbors.
The Israelites’ error is the same one we so often make—channeling all of our energy into religious observance without working to bring about a more just, safe, and healthy life for people in need. We feel pity, as I assume the Israelites did, but simply feeling pity is precisely what enables us to keep singing our songs to God while never doing anything about the needs that are all around us.
Living with compassion is a different story. It requires action. It compels us to get up close and personal with people. We can’t practice presence from a distance. And we can’t outsource presence to God—because he has already assigned it to us.
Three Attitudes of Compassion
Becoming people who act on their compassion requires a change in our thinking. It doesn’t come naturally. And it certainly isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would do it. We must make some conscious and deliberate changes to the way we think about the challenges that other people’s needs present to us.
Let me suggest three shifts in perspective that may be necessary in order for us to move past pity and become people of compassionate reactions when we see a need.
1. Slow Down 2. Expect a Mess 3. Make Space for Interruption.
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