COMPASSION or CALLOUSNESS?

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, . . .”

Recently an individual was sharing what they perceived as a lack of love and concern on the part of a pastor for his people. As I look back on that conversation I had to evaluate my own life as a pastor. When my people were going through deep waters, what kind of concern did I have for them at that time. Was my heart moved? Did I weep with them? Did I demonstrate love? What kind of a pastor was I?

In his book entitled, A Godward life p299, John piper prayed, “O Lord, please let me be a pastor who preaches and leads and loves in a way that makes the impossibilities of life possible for your people by a miracle of sustaining grace. Help me to know the weight and pain of this life and not to be breezy when the mountains have fallen into the sea. Help me to have the aroma of Christ’s sufferings about me. Prevent shallowness and callousness to pain. O Lord, make me and my people a burden-bearing people.”

As I was reading that paragraph it was easy to think about some pastors who might demonstrate a lack of love and concern for their people. You see, I’m no longer a pastor. It’s no longer my responsibility. Then all of a sudden I got to the last sentence of Dr. Piper’s prayer and it hit me right between the eyes. He’s right! All of us, whether we are involved in occupational ministry or laymen in the congregation, we are to have the “aroma of Christ’s sufferings” permeating our lives day by day. We are to have the compassion Jesus had when he saw the needs of the multitude (Mt 9:36).

Why are there pastors with no concern for their people? Why do we laymen not weep when others weep? Why do we believers have so much callousness? I believe, in many cases, we are too preoccupied with our own agendas, desires and problems. We feel we are more important than others. We have a self-centered mentality. We have become complacent and calloused.

God help us all; pastors and laymen, to bear one another’s burdens! Notice what we read in Romans 15:1 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” I’m not going to go into a long message on the word “bear,” but simply say that it has the idea of “bearing with, being indulgent or to endure patiently.” And be sure to notice the end of verse 1, “and not to please ourselves.” Again, I say that’s the problem – more concerned with our own selves than we are others.

Pray that I will be a compassionate, caring Christian!