Saturday, July 17, 2010

Passion or Compassion?

One of the wonderful pithy quotes from Dr. Quill was that people really like the phrase "I have passion for the lost". That's one of those good catch phrases - it seems to be the right thing to say.

I don't think it is the best phrase. How about this? "I have compassion upon sinners". That seems much more Christ-like - He has compassion all over the place - He sees the wretchedness of the world and desires to show love - love that isn't in anyway self-serving.

Our passion for the lost can be misplaced -- sometimes it can be a passion for their respect and admiration for how wonderful a leader I am. Sometimes it can be a passion for the money in their wallet. Sometimes it can be a passion for being able to tell the other pastors that you have a growing Church (and so you must be doing something right). These are the temptations Satan likes to piggy back on to our own passions - the foe always twists our desires.

But, consider compassion. With compassion, one doesn't look at one's own desires - but rather is focused completely on the sad state of the neighbor and how you can show him love. There's nothing for Satan to piggy back on if your focus is on compassion, on the neighbor.

No comments: