%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%>
THERE’S NOTHING
‘COMPASSIONATE’ ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE GET TO HELL
I received this email yesterday. The subject line, as you could guess, was “Compassion”:
Matt, you call yourself a Christian but you have no compassion. The Jesus I
believe in just wants people to be compassionate towards each other. We are
not told to be judgmental to others because of who they love or what lifestyle
they choose to have or what gender they identify as. Who are you to say what
is wrong or right? We shouldn’t be focused on talking about “sin”
or telling other people that they might be going to Hell. You have no right
to say what a “sin” is. Our job is to be compassionate to all! Compassionate
isn’t when you’re judging or telling other people about their sins.
I pray that you realize the error of your ways.
This is a good example of the bland salad of empty feeling and meaningless sentiment
that often passes for “Christianity” in this country. You’ll
notice that the adherents to this false version of the faith — and they
certainly outnumber Christ’s true disciples by a large margin in our culture
— have kidnapped, tortured, and destroyed many words that were previously
very useful to Christians. A word like “judge,” for instance, has
been so often misapplied and misconstrued by the Sentimental Christians that
the rest of us almost have to leave off using it.
No word or concept, though, has been more thoroughly ruined by the Sentamentalists
than “compassion.” They have settled on “compassion”
as the most noble euphemism for their self-centered and lackadaisical theology,
and now they can’t seem to talk about their faith for 2 minutes without
tossing it out a dozen times. Unfortunately, there is no indication that they
actually know what the word means.
The word compassion comes from the Latin for “co-suffering.” When
we are “compassionate” towards another, we take on their suffering
in the hopes of helping them towards some good end. This is what Christ did
in the most perfect way when He came to Earth to suffer and die for the sins
of Man. It was the greatest act of compassion in the history of the universe.
The key point in Christ’s compassion is that it was a saving act. He didn’t
just come down and give us a hug and say, “Hey, you guys are super. No
need to change anything! Good job! Well, anyway, see ya later!” Rather,
He shed light on the darkness and corruption of the world and then did something
about it. He sacrificed Himself. He suffered with us and for us so that we can
go to Heaven.
This is what it means to be compassionate. Compassion is an act, it is a sacrifice,
it is suffering, it is intended to help others get to Heaven. We obviously cannot
win salvation for others, or even for ourselves, but we can still be compassionate
in a way that imitates Christ’s compassion. The relativistic, indifferent
“compassion” described in the email above — the same type
often preached from the pulpits of our churches — has nothing to do with
the compassion of Christ. For the Sentimentalists, “compassion”
is a synonym for “nice,” and “nice” means being tolerant
and accepting of whatever a person decides to do or however they decide to live.
To them, compassion is always polite, always easy going, always enabling, always
passive. Compassion is a feeling. A nod of approval. A pat on the back.
Conveniently, their “compassion” can be exercised from the comfort
of their living rooms. Simply by virtue of lounging on the couch and not intruding
in the affairs of others they have shown compassion. Every moment they spend
watching Netflix and eating Doritos is a moment of Heavenly compassion because
it does not interfere with anyone. You’ll notice that their compassion
isn’t really modeled after Christ so much as it’s modeled after
The Dude from The Big Lebowski. It’s totally chill and, like, not all
up in your face, you know?
This compassion never rebukes sin or calls anyone to repentance (except when
it is rebuking those who rebuke, which appears to be one form of rebuking that
these “compassionate” and “non-judgmental” types are
quite comfortable with). It doesn’t concern itself at all with the fate
of souls. This kind of “compassionate” person just wants others
to be comfortable here on Earth, whatever the cost. He doesn’t care about
helping people get to Heaven. He is concerned only with the here and now.
Naturally, what this “compassionate” person desires most is his
own comfort. Helping others overcome sin and temptation would make him uncomfortable
because it would force him to confront the darkness in his own soul, so he says
nothing and does nothing, and he tells himself that his selfishness is love
and his cowardice is courage. His compassion is a compassion entirely devoid
of compassion. In fact, his compassion is a grave injustice. When he says we
ought to “accept” all “lifestyles,” however sinful,
and that we ought never speak of Hell or call anything a sin, he is doing actual
harm to his brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s not just that he’s
failing to help them, but that he’s actively hurting them. With this attitude
and approach — this “compassion” — he causes great damage
to two groups:
First, the habitual and unrepentant sinner whose sin is being so politely and
nicely tolerated. It may be true that this person will feel relieved to be encouraged
in his wickedness and told that it’s really very good and natural for
him to do whatever it is he wants to do. He may be grateful for such an assurance.
For now. But the wickedness he partakes in still destroys him all the same.
He is brought closer to eternal damnation all the same. And for us to facilitate
this easy and casual descent into the fires of Hell is not compassionate. It’s
rather like injecting morphine into a man’s hand so that he no longer
feels pain when he places his palm on a hot stove. Not feeling pain is nice,
but the problem is that the guy’s hand is still getting burnt to a crisp.
Better that he feel the pain and save his hand. Better that the sinner feel
the weight of his sin and save his soul.
The second group of people deeply harmed by this fake “compassion”
are those who wish to avoid sinning. This is perhaps the most neglected group
in all of western Christendom — those who are filthy sinners but who actually
want to be holy, and need some help and encouragement in that direction. It
seems that the church has nothing at all to say to these folks, except that
they’re wasting their energy and should just relax and go with the flow.
As a member of this second group (and sometimes a member of the first), I can
testify to the poisonous effects of our culture’s permissive “compassion.”
I admit I take it personally when these “compassionate” folks go
around saying that there is no sin and everything is fine. I take it personally
because I can look in my own soul and see this for the insidious, Satanic lie
that it is. I know I’m a sinner. I know I’m weak. I know I’m
a coward. If left to my own devices, cut off from the grace of God, encouraged
to indulge in my basest instincts, Lord only knows the evil I could commit.
The moral obligations of our faith are a great challenge for me, as I am such
a frail and flimsy human being. I am always looking for an escape hatch. A way
out. A rationalization. An excuse. “Well, this isn’t so bad. I can
do this. I can carry on this way. It’s alright. Everyone’s doing
it.” These are the words Satan whispers in my ear every hour of the day,
and I wish sometimes that they were true.
The absolute worst thing you could do, then, is feed into or encourage my weakest
and most selfish inclinations. The least compassionate response on your part
would be to agree with the devil on my shoulder. Now, I may love you in the
moment for it — “Hooray! You told me what I want to hear! You made
my life easier!” — but if I listen to you, if I really take your
words to heart and convince myself that my sins are not sins, that my wickedness
is not so wicked, then I imagine that one day I’ll be cursing your name
forever in the pit of Hell. And perhaps, if you continue carrying on with this
“compassion” of yours, eventually I’ll be able to do so in
person.
The world is full of weak, pitiful sinners like myself; those just looking for
a way around our duties and obligations. A way to follow Christ without taking
up our cross. A way to be a Christian without making sacrifices. A way to enter
Heaven while holding onto a piece of Earth. How does your so-called compassion
help us? How have you equipped and strengthened us in our spiritual battle by
telling us that we need not battle? And how is this “compassion”
any different from the “compassion” of the Devil?
The fight to be forthright, chaste, modest, courageous, and pure in this decadent
and decaying culture is constant and exhausting and often quite confusing. Those
of us who even so much as desire, on some level, to be good, to be true —
even if we are so incredibly terrible at following through — are already
in a small minority. And so the most compassionate thing you can do for us is
to say:
“Yes, you’re right to struggle. You’re right to fight. You’re
right to resist Satan at any cost. You are not wasting your energies. And when
you fail, you’re right to crawl back to God on your hands and knees begging
for mercy. You’re right to do these things. Keep doing them. It is worth
it in the end. Resist sin. Lean on God’s understanding, not your own.
Put on the whole armor of God. Beat back the Evil One with all you’ve
got, scratching, and clawing, and gouging at his eyes. Keep going. What you
fight against, this sin you struggle against, it is as horrible and disgusting
as you believe it to be, and more so. Do not give into it. The fate of your
soul hangs in the balance. You can’t give up. Keep fighting. Let me help
you. Let me fight with you. Let me suffer with you. Let me walk ahead of you
and show you the way. Let me demonstrate the obedient Christian life for you.
Let me be a light in the storm.”
This is what Christ has said to all of us, and our job as compassionate Christians
is to echo His words and say to each other what He would say if He were standing
physically in our midst. This is the truly compassionate message. Maybe it’s
not the easy version or the fashionable one or the one that makes for pithy
slogans and Facebook memes, but this is how we ought to be encouraging, exhorting,
and edifying each other. That is, if we actually love each other. If we actually
want each other to go to Heaven. But if we’re satisfied to have as much
fun as possible now and pay the bill later in eternity, then by all means we
ought to continue with that more tolerant and popular form of compassion. We
will be walking to our own destruction, but at least we’ll be comfortable
until we get there.
By Matt Walsh
Return to the General Articles page
Home / Bible studies / Bible Survey / Special Studies / General Articles / Non-Bible Articles / Sermons / Sermon Outlines / Links / Questions and Answers / What Saith The Scriptures /Daily Devotional / Correspondence Courses / What is the Church of Christ / Book: Christian Growth / Website Policy / E-mail / About Me /