We Are Compassionate, or We Are Nothing

Therefore, be perfect as Your Father in Heaven is perfect.

The tallest of tall orders. Even reading this passage, a subtle anxiety is felt in my chest, a stress which never seems to fade. Because I am never going to be up to that task. And neither are you.

We can theologically contextualize it, citing how being in Christ, abiding in the vine, or remaining in the pasture with the shepherd, or whatever other similar passage points to what makes us truly ‘perfect.’ And I actually do believe that to be true. And I actually believe that to be wonderful.

And yet, the stress I feel is still ever present, still always nagging in my chest. Whether it is in part due to an American world obsessed with accomplishment and achievement, or in the culturally Christian context of behavior modification and ‘sin management,’ it seems this moral impeccability is impossible to attain, even for the type A, Enneagram 1s of the world. 

The surface reading of the text, a surface reading which we have from our Greek cultural ancestors, is very far from the Hebrew cultural context. According to Ronald Rolheiser in his book Sacred Fire, “rather, Jesus’ concept of perfection is very much identified with compassion, so much so that sometimes the Gospels simply name it as compassion. Compassion is an attainable goal. Hence, Jesus challenges us: be compassionate as your heavenly father is compassionate.”  

So, rather than checking off a list of moral requirements, many of which are either man made and “have the appearance of wisdom” as Paul writes in Colossians, or, alternatively, give us a false sense of pride for adherence to them, what if this perfection, or rather, compassion which Christ calls us to, is more about what we do rather than what we don’t?

What if compassion is the heart of the gospel? What if compassion is the path to gain enemies as friends? What if compassion is love in action? What if compassion is a verb, not an adverb or noun? What if compassion is full obedience to Christ’s commandment to love the Lord Your God with all of who you are, along with loving your neighbor as yourself?

We live in a world in dire need of compassion. Everywhere, sides are formed, bigotry is praised, and harsh rejection of the “other,” whoever your other might be, is all the rage. Whether from the political left or right, religious fundamentalism or atheistic secularism, strict adherence and strict devotion to your side is a pre-requisite to belonging to your group. Openly shunning your opponent is encouraged within your group, while open vitriol and sometimes outright violence towards the other group is condoned as justified for the cause. What if compassion is the answer to this gaping and seemingly impossible problem of evil? 

Jesus is the ultimate model of compassion. Here is a man who regularly served those who stood opposed to Him. Here is a man who served, ate with, and spent His time with those far from His Father, the tax collectors and prostitutes and homeless and ‘hopeless.’ Here is a man who opposed his religious foes with words harsh and cutting, yet on the cross of Calvary, which those same enemies condemned Him to, He asked the Father to forgive them, for they know not what they do. 

There is no way to get around this. There is no theological reading, no cultural understanding, no worldview present enlightened enough to dismiss Jesus’ strong mandate. They killed Him because of this. They killed a man who rejected killing, hated a man who rejected hate, judged a man who rejected judgment, and above all, rejected His message of compassion because it undermined all of which they stood on.

For with a lens of compassion, with the lens of Christ, no one is outside of the grace of the God. No sheep is too far away from the pasture, no wayward son is too far away from home, no prostitute has whored herself away from salvation at the hands, feet, blood, sweat, and tears of God, revealed as Jesus Christ, the self proclaimed Son of Man and the Emmanuel, ‘God with us.’

No one is too conservative, no one is too liberal, no one is too gay, no one is too cis-gender, no one is too transgender, no one is too black, no one is too white, no one is too hateful, no one is too broken, no one is too lost to not be found in Christ.

In Him, all things hold together. In Him, all things belong. In Him, all can be found.

In Christ, all things are possible. If and when we believe this truth, when we believe in Him who is the Truth, this reality, His reality, is made manifest to the world. Compassion breaks through triumphant over judgment, awakening hearts that were dead with hate, stirring enemies to become friends, to reconcile with brothers and sisters reunited and unified by Him who they all identify as Father. The kingdom of heaven is unleashed victoriously over the kingdom of hell, and those with whom we once hated we now love. 

In Christ, we are compassionate. Outside of Christ, we are nothing. Therefore, we are compassionate, or we are nothing.

A tall order, indeed, but it is in Christ where all things are possible. It is in Him where we find this compassion. It is in Him that we place our faith, our hope, and our love.