HEELCATCHER

Compassion is a tricky thing.

It isn’t always what you think.

Recently my family and I saw a man asking for money on the side of the road. We have experienced enough to know that giving money is usually not the best solution. So we found a local restaurant, bought a meal, and brought it to him. I spent time talking with him and found out that his name was Bert. I asked the usual questions that I do when someone comes to our church for help.

Do you have a family? Do you have a church family? What assistance have you sought from local charities and ministries?

Bert told me that he had a sister who was convinced that he was on drugs and so she had stopped giving him assistance and encouraged the rest of the family to do the same. As he talked about his sister, I could sense the anger rising up in his voice. He thought his sister had actually put a curse on him and on his family.

Bert’s eyes had a glaze to them. He said that he had medical issues. It’s possible. It also could’ve been the after effects of alcohol or drugs. It was hard to tell. I encouraged him to go to a local ministry not too far from where he was asking for money. He thanked me and turned away indicating that he was ready for me to leave.

I took the cue and left, saying a prayer for Bert and realizing how hard it is to truly know what compassion looks like in such situations.

Providing a meal seems like the one of the simplest acts of compassion. But what if Bert really does have a drug issue and his sister is trying to break him by letting him experience the depths of his addiction? Did my meal just prolong his time on the streets?

Did I really help him or did I hinder him from facing the consequences that may lead him to true recovery?

As a pastor I have been involved with counseling those with addictions. It is never easy. On the one hand you want to show compassion. On the other, you know that many will not change unless they are faced with the stark realities of their choices. As they often say in addiction ministries:

Unless the pain of where you are is greater than the pain of change, you will never change.

I know a man who is currently destroying himself with his addiction. After numerous trips in and out of rehab centers and many “second chances,” his family and friends have decided to pull back on their assistance until he enters a long-term program. But, as of now, he is still figuring out how to survive while keeping a firm grip on his addiction…most likely through the assistance of compassionate individuals who don’t know his whole story. People who give him money or a meal on the side of the road, for instance.

Recently several books have explored the complexity of compassion.

When Helping Hurts, written by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, two professors of economics with a long history of charitable ministry, argues that true compassion must go beyond relief into rehabilitation and development. To give relief only often creates dependency, confirms a person in their helpless mindset, and tends to lead to a “god complex” in the person giving aid.

Toxic Charity, by Robert Lupton, founder of FCS Urban Ministries, presents a similar argument. Lupton contends that “top down charity seldom works.” The further the giver is from knowing the receiver, the less likely that true change and compassion will be shown. Lupton states:

Never do for the poor what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves. Limit one-way giving to emergency situations. …Anyone who has served among the poor for any length of time will recognize the following progression: give once and you elicit appreciation; give twice and you create anticipation; give three times and you create expectation; give four times and it becomes entitlement; give five times and you establish dependency.

Of course, it is easy to take the arguments in these books and use them as an excuse to do nothing. That is always the danger. The pendulum always swings from one extreme to another. But the bottom line is that neither the cold selfishness of doing nothing nor the look-good self-righteousness of a seemingly charitable deed really captures the heart of compassion.

Jesus is the model of compassion.

He loved people. He met them where they were. He saw beyond their outside appearance to their true inner value. He became a servant to meet their real needs. But Jesus’ goal was to change people not make them comfortable.

Jesus forgave sin to free people toward holiness.

He healed sickness to restore their soul.

He fed people to open their eyes to their spiritual hunger and need.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing questions Jesus asked a sick man who had been crippled and infirmed for over thirty years was “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6).

“Of course he wants to be made well, Jesus! He’s been sick and in desperate need for over 30 years. Why would you even ask such a question?!”

Because, to be quite blunt, deep down some people do not really want to be healed. By healing this man, Jesus would be changing his way of life for the past three decades. Yes, being burdened by his sickness (whatever it was) was a type of prison…but it was a prison that he was used to.

As Red says in Shawshank Redemption:

Prison walls are funny. First you hate ’em… then you get used to ’em. Enough time passes… you get so you depend on ’em. That’s institutionalized.

The nation of Israel was commanded to love the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow (Deut 10:18) and to protect them from injustice (Isaiah 1:17). Compassion was shown by not gleaning the corners of the harvest so that the poor in the land had the opportunity to work and collect their own food (Lev. 23:22). Thus, compassion is the provision of protection and opportunity…it is not the enablement of poor choices and self-destructive behavior.

The proverbial “hand up” rather than a “hand out.”

Paul shows the same balance when he challenges believers to not grow weary in doing good (2 Thess. 3:13) but also reminds them of a general principle: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat (2 Thess. 3:10).

So compassion is more than just feeling like you did a good thing. It is actually doing a good thing. And “good” can only be determined by a standard of truth that differentiates between good and bad, between what is beneficial to the person in the long run and what is ultimately harmful.

If I give temporary relief that ultimately prolongs a person’s destructive behavior then is it real compassion? Or is it my attempt to feel compassionate?

For the follower of Jesus Christ, true compassion means continually saturating your mind with God’s Word, walking in dependence on the Spirit, softening your heart with grace, taking time to listen, praying for wisdom, speaking the truth in love, and realizing that sometimes the hand of mercy has to be coupled with a loving kick to the seat of the pants.

Do you feel like your brain is in a fog?

Struggling to focus?

Fighting anxiety?

Stressed?

We live in an age of distraction.

Our minds are constantly pulled in a thousand directions.

Everything is competing for our attention.

It’s hard to deny.

Recently I found an article online arguing that the “age of distraction” is a myth. Ironically I couldn’t even read the article without being distracted. Sixty-one different ads, videos, and click bait articles popped up while scrolling through the article.

And what was really scary was that most of the ads were specifically targeted toward me.

Callaway golf irons.

PenFed investments.

123RF stock photos.

Dell computers.

Anything that I had searched for in the past few days was flashing before my eyes, enticing me to put down my research and to start shopping.

This is our world.

It is designed to distract.

And we are feeling the impact.

Neurologically our brains are designed to focus on one thing at a time. 

Earl Miller, a professor of neuroscience at MIT, makes this point clear:

People can’t multitask very well, and when people say they can, they’re deluding themselves. …Switching from task to task, you think you’re actually paying attention to everything around you at the same time. But you’re actually not. You’re not paying attention to one or two things simultaneously, but switching between them very rapidly.

When our mind is hit with a multitude of distractions, our brains kick into high gear to try to attend to each thing. We burn through glucose at a rapid pace and we eventually experience fatigue and disorientation.

The condition has actually been given a name.

Continuous Partial Attention.

And the symptoms sound familiar:

• Having a stressful lifestyle
• Feeling like you are always in crisis mode
• High blood pressure
• Poor decision-making
• Inability to regulate emotions
• Loss of impulse control
• Feeling unfulfilled
• Feeling a sense of powerlessness

We are overstimulating our brains…overloading our senses…overstretching our attention…and then wondering why we feel overwhelmed.

We simply cannot function this way.

Our humanity calls us back to limits.

Our minds are craving concentration.

Deep thinking.

Meditation.

Reflection.

Rest.

When our brain focuses on one thing, our neurons actually synchronize. The signals become stronger. Clearer. Deeper.

The different parts of the brain work in harmony.

We learn to think…rather than react.

One longitudinal study, conducted with over 1000 children over the course of several decades, discovered that the ability to concentrate was the strongest predictor of success in a person’s life.

This ability [to concentrate] is more important than IQ or the socio economic status of the family you grew up in for determining career success, financial success, and health. …The more you can concentrate the better you’ll do on anything, because whatever talent you have, you can’t apply it if you are distracted. (Dr. Daniel Goleman)

So how do you declutter your brain?

It begins with recognizing the distractions that are all around us and then making an intentional choice to limit them…and eliminate them…as needed.

Start with your smartphone.

Turn it off for a period of time each day.

Put it away once a week.

Keep it away while you are trying to focus on a task.

A “media sabbath,” especially in the mornings, may be the best thing that you can do to help your brain rest…and to be renewed and rewired.

Learning expert Jim Kwik notes:

When you wake up you’re in this theta alpha state and you’re highly suggestible. With every like, comment, or share, you get this dopamine fix and it’s literally rewiring your brain. What your smart device is doing especially if that’s the first thing you grab when you wake up…is rewiring your brain to be distracted.

In an age of distraction, decluttering the brain requires intentionality.

The force of decision.

Discipline.

Spiritual discipline.

Because it is ultimately a spiritual issue.

We were created for a singular purpose–to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to worship Him alone.

When our central focus is on His glory then everything else falls into its proper place.

By seeing Him, we see everything else clearly.

A.W. Tozer defined faith as “the gaze of the soul upon a saving God.”

And the writer of Hebrews reminds us:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The secret to the spiritual life…the restful life…the joyful life…is learning to fix our eyes on our Savior.

To have a vision higher than the distractions of this world.

To have a focus sharper than the blur of flashing lights around us.

To have a passion stronger than the temporal temptations of our time.

To have a purpose greater than yourself.

To have a love deeper than the lure of distractions.

The old hymnwriter had it right.

O soul are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

If one thing should be clear to believers in Jesus Christ, it is that racism is sin.

Any attitude or action that sees one race, one skin color, as superior to another is antithetical to the heart of Scripture from beginning to end.

From Genesis to Revelation.

From creation to consummation.

We are all created in the image of God. We are all meant to display His glory. We all have value. We all bear dignity.

So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Based on this foundational fact, James says that to bless God and to curse His image (another human being) is the epitome of hypocrisy.

With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way. (James 3:9-10)

And the apostle Paul ups the ante by saying that not only does every human being bear the image of God but every human being is also someone for whom Jesus Christ died. Thus, we no longer see people based on superficial, external factors but as eternally valuable in the eyes of God.

For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. (2 Corinthians 5:14-16a)

Finally, the consummation of the redemptive story shows us the ultimate heart and design of God.

And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)

Every tribe.

Every tongue.

Every people group.

Every nation.

Every skin color.

As the Sunday School children’s song taught us from an early age…

Red and yellow, black and white,
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Yes, the Christian church has failed throughout the ages to live up to this truth.

Yes, our own “Christian nation” has failed miserably in this regard as well.

Racism is a reality.

The human heart will find any reason to mistreat another.

Skin color is just one of the easiest ways to separate…to segregate…to subjugate.

But this is not the heart of God.

Racism is actually rooted in atheism…in evolutionary theory…in the supposed superiority (or advanced evolution) of one race over another.

Scripturally there is only one race.

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings (Acts 17:26).

So, as a believer, I repudiate racism and the sins that grow from its roots.

I also seek to be a peacemaker, a minister of reconciliation, declaring a message of reconciliation to God–“Be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ!”–and a message of reconciliation to one another in Christ.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation. (Ephesians 2:14)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

That is why I also reject the major tenets of critical race theory.

It is rooted in postmodernism, rejecting absolute truth. Thus, it judges all structures, institutions, and laws not on the basis of objective truth but on the basis of the hegemony, the particular power or identity group that put them into place.

It is rooted in Marxist thinking, seeking to divide, seeking to separate people into classes, the oppressor and the oppressed, in order to provoke anger and invoke a revolution.

It is rooted in atheism, denying the image of God in all of humanity and denying the reality of sin in the heart of all humanity.

Since it sees the problem as skin deep, then all of its solutions are skin deep as well.

This does not mean that the ugly parts of history should not be taught.

Slavery.

Jim Crow laws.

The Tulsa massacre.

In fact, it means the opposite.

The issue is not what past events are taught but rather why they are taught and how they are taught.

Anyone who has ever been in an argument over a past event can easily testify that the past can be brought up for one of two reasons–to heal or to hurt, to bring understanding or to breed resentment.

History is to be taught in order that we may listen, learn, and leave its past sins behind in the present time.

History should not be taught to latch onto its sins, leverage them for one’s own purposes, and loathe the person or groups or identities that are labeled evil by its teachers.

I remember one of my favorite scenes from my favorite movie, Remember the Titans.

Coach Herman Boone leads his divided, segregated, resentful football team on a 3am run through the woods. As they run together, they find themselves tired, frustrated, and experiencing pain together. Then, when their strength is almost gone and they are too tired to hate one another, they arrive at their destination.

Gettysburg.

In the midst of gravestones that they had not seen before…with the mist rising all around them…Coach Boone delivers his message.

Anybody know what this place is? This is Gettysburg. This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we’re still fighting amongst ourselves today. This green field right here was painted red, bubbling with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men. I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen and take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now, on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed just like they were. … I don’t care if you don’t like each other, but you will respect each other. I don’t know, maybe we’ll learn to play this game like men.

Coach Boone did not ignore history.

He taught it.

But he taught it for a purpose.

To bring his team together.

Not to divide.

To promote healing and reconciliation.

Not to promote resentment and revolution.

The real issue in the movie is not the structure or rules of football.

The real issue is the human heart.

When the heart changes, everything else falls into place.

So, on this Juneteenth day, I acknowledge the sins of the past.

Our nation has often failed.

The church has often failed as well.

But I also give thanks.

The nation that once ignored its own founding principles and enslaved some of its own people has changed. Not only has it repudiated slavery but it has been one of the few nations in the whole history of civilization to actually work to end slavery around the world.

And the church has changed as well. Yes, we still have our divisions but there are more movements toward reconciliation than there have ever been before.

I am thankful to work with one in our own city.

And that is worth celebrating.

And worth bringing a divided nation together once again.