Compassion

by Bud Lambert

In 1964 on Austin Street in Queens, New York, a woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death. Thirtyeight people watched as she was stabbed and no one tried to help. No one even called the police.
Nehemiah didn't stand around and watch while Israel floundered in great affliction and reproach. The Old Testament book of Nehemiah records how the cupbearer of king Artaxexes successfully led Israel back to a right relationship with God. One of the reasons for his success was godly compassion:
"And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of Heaven" ( Nehemiah 1:4). It was his deep compassion for Israel that motivated him to do what he could to help.
Like lsrael, America is floundering in great affliction and reproach. During the last thirty years there has been a 560 percent increase in violent crime; more than a 400 percent increase in illegitimate births; a quadrupling in divorce rates; a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes; and more than a 200 percent increase in the teenage suicide rate. America needs help! America needs to be lead back toward God!
For the church to successfully lead America back toward God, we must have godly compassion - - we must weep and mourn for America. One way to develop godly compassion is to realize that our sins are part of the problem: "I pray... and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned" ( Nehemiah 1:6). Nehemiah was able to feel compassion because he remembered he wasn't perfect. He knew his sins were part of the problem. Instead of compassion, perfectionistic people usually feel anger about the failings of others. As a result, instead of trying to help those who are hurting, they will want to judge them, criticize them, and condemn them.
Are you as a Christian weeping and mourning for America? If not, it may be that you have begun to think too much of yourself. Let's encourage one another in this matter!