Two of the most cherished traits of a true man or woman of
God are goodness and compassion. Goodness by compulsion; however, is not
goodness at all. Delegated compassion falls into the same category. Yet, I’m
afraid that many of our Christian activities fall in these two classes.
Churches see the Scriptural mandate to feed the hungry, take
care of the widows, homeless and orphans, so what do they do? Appoint a
committee. Many of those that serve do so out of compulsion, and in some cases
what little compassion that is shown lacks the depth of a dedicated ministry,
or mission for that purpose. This opinion, I base, not as a criticism, but
rather on statistical facts. The burn out rate, speaks for itself.
I speak from experience on this issue, both as a pastor and a
director of ministries of compassion.
Personally—I shall not go into details—I was once asked to
head up a ministry that my heart was not really in, I had very little
compassion for repeated offenders. Mess up once. Okay. Twice? Maybe. Three
times? Forget it! That at best was my limit. As I look back on those days, I
say to myself, “Well, when judgement day rolls around, I won’t get many brownie
points there.” Not that we get brownie points, but we do get rewards.
In the other instance, I was director of the Mission of
Mercy Hospital in Calcutta, and from that I really got a lot of fulfillment and
satisfaction. I found it easy to identify with the sick, and suffering. I have
been ill a lot myself, and suffered a lot in the process. So, I understood. I
had compassion. Neither did I feel compelled to take the position. I did it out
of choice, not compulsion.
Through it all, I somewhere along the line learned very
valuable lessons for the ministry. Lesson number one: compulsion is meritless,
because such goodness must come from the heart. Secondly, a heart of compassion
may be recognized, but you can never appoint or delegate compassion. If it is
not in the heart, forget the appointment. In the long run both goodness and
compassion fail; not out of effort, but rather out of attempting to
accomplishing a spiritual ministry with carnal means.
What’s the answer, then? Stop the ministries? Perhaps, in
some cases yes—that is, in how they are administered. The answer lies in how to
know how to recognize a gifting, and then approving it. Compassion cannot be
delegated, neither can goodness.
I sometimes think of all the “ministries” and “obligated activities”
that we perform as a denomination as kind of “check list” ministries. So and so
is ill. Did I send a get-well card? If so check it off. Oh my, the church
manual says that we must support missions. Let’s see now. How much money shall
we let slip through our coffers to fund that? Mustn’t let compassion make too
big of a run on our budget. A sizable honorarium should take care of that. Yes,
it should and most probably will; but it will also stifle compassion and in the
long run shrink what little money you do have budgeted for compassion
ministries. Put compassion for missions on your check list, if you will; but in
the long run your budget will suffer. That goes for other ministries of
compassion as well. Stewardship is necessary, as are budgets; however, God
given compassion will never override your other needs. People are responsible,
when reminded of what’s in the budget, and if experience has taught me
anything, it has taught me that God is able to meet all of our needs according
to his riches in glory (Philippians 4:19).
Personally, I have found that down through the years, any
sacrificial giving on my part has really harmed nothing but my life style.
Well, much more could be said, but that will just have to
wait for another time.
Blessings, and take
care!
JimR_/-
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