Compassion

My first trip outside of the United States was for Christmas vacation during 4th Grade. My father had traveled all over the world with the Navy, but he chose to take us to Venezuela because my parents knew a missionary couple that was working in Caracus. We stayed in a nice hotel and took taxis around to see various sites.

All around the city we could see large skyscrapers that where most of the rooms had broken and boarded up windows. Attached all around the buildings or sticking out of these windows were TV antennas. As we went further outside of the city we saw homes all along the hillsides built out of junk cars, cardboard, sheets of tin, old tires, and whatever else people could find to put up walls. The only consistent thing we saw were electric power lines going into and TV antennas sticking out of each makeshift home.

We learned from the missionary couple that the makeshift homes along the hills were the original dwellings for the poor of their country. The used whatever discarded waste they could find to build walls, because the government gave free electricity to any home. Most of these families could not even afford food or clothes for their family, but they all found a way to buy a TV and antennae so they could watch TV using their free electricity.

The government built the skyscrapers to get people out of these makeshift homes. They gave free apartments to anyone that needed one, but often the people would trash the apartment and move back to their old homes on the hills.

I have seen similar situations of extreme poverty in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Jordan. In fact, anyone that has traveled outside of the United States can tell you that there is no real comparison between the conditions of the poor in our country and those in most other parts of the world. You may not believe that if you travel to the blue light distracts of Baltimore.

In the 25 poorest countries in the world the average income runs between $250 and $970 per year. In these countries healthcare is virtually non-existent, orphans are left to fend for themselves, STDs are widespread, and the average lifespan is between 35-40 years. Our poorest people would be considered wealthy in these countries.

Yet regardless of the averages, every country has wealthy and poor people. It was no different during the 1st Century and this was something that the church had to face right off the bat.

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. 

Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved. (Acts 2:41-47, HCSB)

In the past few weeks we shared how Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and provide power for the disciples to be witnesses about everything they had seen. We saw that prayer was the vehicle that was used by the disciples to be immersed in the power of God and that the Holy Spirit propelled them forward in boldness.

As others started to believe and follow the teachings of Jesus, the church began to take shape as a family. They met together daily to study God’s Word. They ate meals together going from house to house. They worshipped together. Those that had shared with those that had a need. The early church was a family that had compassion for each other. The love of God flowed through them and out onto others.

Word spread quickly about how these followers of The Way would welcome in strangers as part of their family. People would tell their friends and neighbors how the church had helped them during a time of need. The message went viral. The way that these followers shared and cared for each other was one of the things that propelled the message of the church.

Compassion was not something new. The early church did not have a monopoly on caring for the widows and orphans. The concept of helping those in need was something that God had instituted long before the beginning of His church.

For there will never cease to be poor people in the land; that is why I am commanding you, ‘You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 15:11, HCSB) 

Kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord, and He will give a reward to the lender. (Proverbs 19:17, HCSB)

The 10 commandments taught to love God and love others. God intended for us to be compassionate toward others. To share His love with those around us.

But the early church did not show compassion because they were commanded to do so. They shared compassion because they understood that Jesus had done something remarkable for them: He died for the forgiveness of their sins, He broke the chains that had held them captive to their sins, and He invited them all to become part of His family and to be joint heirs with Him in the kingdom of God. They went from outsiders to adopted members of the family. This gave them a desire to share that love with others and to treat them as part of the family.

Acts 2:44 says that all believers were together and held all things in common. The wealthy did not look down on the poor. The poor did not despise the wealthy. They helped each other. They cared for each other. They had compassion for each other.

One reason that the church has been declining over the past few decades is that the church no longer functions as a family. The church might say they care about each other, but we have actually closed ourselves off from each other. We have long lists of prayer requests and think this shows that we care about those in need. We have committees that meet quietly with those in need while the average church member has no knowledge of the needs of others within the family.

The early church met together daily, but now Sundays are a time for us to reconnect with those that we haven’t seen all week. The early church went from home to home to share meals. These were intimate times with new and old friends. Today most churches spend millions to build bigger buildings so they can all be together for fellowship meals that are neither intimate nor inviting to individuals that are new to the church.

The early church cared enough to discover the needs of others in the church. They were personally involved. They sought ways to help the church. Today most people are more focused on what the church can do for them and their children. If the church doesn’t have a great children’s program or youth program or worship ministry then they want nothing to do with the church.

The early church cared equally for those in their church family as they did for those in their physical family. Today many people are willing to help others as long as it doesn’t conflict with their own family’s schedules and needs. The early church members sold possessions so they could help those in need. The average American Christian has been deceived into believing that achieving the American Dream is more important than helping the family of God. They are more concerned with growing their portfolios than growing the kingdom of God.

We need to make some changes in the church if we want the Good News to once again go viral as it did in the early church. We must put aside selfishness and become compassionate for others. We must care less about our possessions and more about helping others possess eternal life with Jesus. We must love our church family enough to desire spending time with them outside of the church.

We must develop active relationships with each other that are fueled by love. We must be open and real with each other. Share our heartaches and our joys. Invite each other into our lives. Help each other, be there for each other, care for each other, share with each other. Be a family that loves God and loves each other.