Christ as a model of compassion
Generally thinking they are holier than God, many of those who identify themselves as Christians, do not hesitate to throw the 1st, the 2nd, the 10th and the 100th stones at those who are convinced of sin. And yet it is written, “To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend; Even to him that forsaketh the fear of the Almighty.” (Job 6:14, ASV)
Jesus showed concern and compassion to the Samaritan woman, despite her flirtation and her immorality (John 4). If He succeeded into reaching her heart, it’s because He had first of all overcome the social, moral, ethnic and gender barriers existing between Himself and her.
It is really about time we remember the sight-distorting beams in our eyes, when we are on the verge of judging, condemning or simply removing the mote in someone else’s eye…
That said, I am not in favour of the ‘‘do not stop, do not see and do not speak because we are all dirty’’ attitude. This would not honour the Spirit of the One who urged us to be holy like our Heavenly Father (Leviticus 11:45 and 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15). The One who told the adulterous woman ‘‘Go and sin no more’’, immediately after sympathizing with her and saving her life (John 8:3-11).
If we want to bring people to the ineffable encounter with Christ, then we must absolutely change our ways and stop looking at them through the spectacles of our prejudices, just like Jesus does.
Being a Christian, is being able to grant a truce when your opponent is suffering. Let’s say your arrogant blaspheming atheistic neighbour loses his son a few weeks after mocking God once again; will you jump on the occasion, right in the middle of his grief, to tell him that it is certainly his incredulity that has caused the death of his child? I hope not ! You’d rather go to comfort him and suffer with him. There is a time and a way for everything. The Samaritan woman in John 4 was certainly used to hearing all sorts of gibes. Therefore, if Jesus had frontally addressed the matter of her affairs or her cohabitation, He would have antagonized her and she would no longer have listened to the Word of Life that she yet so desperately needed.
Christ as a model of love
Luke 9:51-55, « And it happened in the fulfilling of the days of His taking up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem. And He sent messengers before His face. And they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for Him. And they did not receive Him, because His face was going toward Jerusalem. And seeing, His disciples James and John said, Lord, do You desire that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them, even as Elijah did? But He turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know of what spirit you are. For the Son of Man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save…»
This anecdote reminds me of a conversation I once had with a brother. He was called to the ministry and was about to graduate from the Faculty of Theology in Brussels. He was coming from an African country ruled by a supposedly bloody dictator. During a prayer meeting, we were to pray for the salvation of our authorities when he bluntly refused to do so for his president, saying: ‘‘He deserved to roast in hell’’ ! I was flabbergasted; especially after all our attempts to make him understand that his attitude was not Christian at all and his country had a lot more to gain from a repentant dictator.
There was also this young and sturdy sister, that I vainly tried to persuade to forgive her brother and her sister. They were suppose to have hurt her. When I asked her to pray for their salvation, she refused saying: "That’s too easy. They must first suffer as much as I did and once I am satisfied, I will then be able to pray for them! »
Whatever the situation, a Christian should not wish the misfortune of others. It is antinomic. Indeed, a dog does not mew and a giraffe does not eat meat: it is a question of nature. Being a Christian, is to continuously strive not to think, say or do evil to anyone. Following Jesus, is doing one’s utmost to always do good to all (Acts 10:38). I stress that, a Christian cannot deliberately harm - nor even think of harming - his neighbour: it is impossible. It would tantamount to committing an unnatural act. If this is your story, then question yourself, because there is definitely something fundamentally wrong. As Jesus said, ‘‘You do not know of what spirit you are.’’
The Bible exhorts us not to allow evil to overcome us, but to overcome evil by good (Romans 12:21). The modus operandi of the Christian must always be love; that is his trademark, that by which he is essentially recognized: «...love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this all shall know that you are my disciples, if you have love toward one another. » (John 13:34-35) This love gives and gives itself; it covers a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12b; 1 Peter 4:8), not by concealment, but because through the grace of forgiveness, erasing and forgetting everything, even the most ‘inexcusable’ offenses eventually disappear, completely covered by it.
Christ as a model of equity
Equity is a natural feeling of the just and the unjust, an inclination to treat people equally and to recognize the right of everyone impartially. According to the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, it is a freedom from bias and favoritism. And Jesus was no respecter of persons. He knew how to be close to outcasts and society scraps: lepers, publicans, Samaritans, Canaanites and even Roman officers. The poor would come out of his anonymity and women would feel revalorized beside Him. He complimented and reprimanded rightly. He never handled the excesses and shortcomings of the rich and the clergy with kid gloves. He would tell some that it would be easier for a camel to go through the hole of a needle than for them to enter into the Kingdom of God and He would address the others as offspring of vipers, hypocrites, whitewashed tombs and children of the hell (Matthew 19:24 & 23:33,27,15). All that mattered to Him was the heart and what was in it.
Many are those frustrated by all sorts of injustice, who now come to Sunday services by routine. And for good reason! Our churches provide the sad spectacle of poor people not taken into account while the rich are treated as a VIP so that they may never think of giving their tithes and offerings elsewhere. The apostles also misjudged the liberality of the widow and the offering of the wealthy (Mark 12:41-43). And believe me, notwithstanding the Lord’s comments, many pastors will not think twice between the exorbitant gifts of the opulent and the widow’s small coins. They would rather have badly Christianized big donors as members than faithful and dedicated ones without bank accounts. After all, ‘‘money has no smell and overheads cannot care less where the funding comes from. Let God take His farthing (a cent) if He wants!’’
Christ as a model of service
Hebrew 10:5-7 (ISV), “For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said, "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings you never took delight. Then I said, 'See, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the Book this is written about me).”
John 5:36, «…for the works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. »
Ephesians 2:10 (ASV), “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”
God formed us a body to do His will, and we came to Earth to serve. “Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, let my people go, that they may serve me.” (Exodus 8:1) That’s why Jesus always talked about His Father’s works that He came to accomplish and why He staged good or bad servants in so many parables and anecdotes. Besides, the words servant and servants appear 150 times throughout the New Testament among which 85 times in the Gospels alone: talk about emphasis!
The other image in relation with service that I like, is the one of the vessel: “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:20-21)
We live in a world where - crises helping – people are increasingly reluctant to serve but more prone to be served and to help themselves. Embezzlements, extortions, insider trading, astronomical bonuses as laurel crowns to reward managers responsible for bankruptcies, you name it, all these regularly make headline news in the media.
In another register, servants of God are less and less in contact with their sheep and are even sometimes harder to meet than heads of States. They are in the frontline when it comes to TV ministry, fundraising or mega-conferences organized by the superstars of Christianity but they delegate for prayer requests, diseases, deaths, burials, visits etc. except of course if required by a rich man or a politician. To serve or to serve (oneself): that is the question!
As you should have already noted, I did not mention the sinner’s prayer, baptism or the other sacraments, church membership, attendance to prayer meetings, the gift of miracles or the ministry gifts (pastor, evangelist…) and all the likes, as criteria to identify Christians. The maid possessed by a spirit of python (divination) in Acts 16 was 'evangelizing' and maybe some were even converted because she had urged them to listen to Paul. And yet, she was not a Christian, she was sold to the devil. The aforementioned things merely represent the form and not the substance of Christianity. Our gatherings are often filled with people who having observed them, will nevertheless be openly told: "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven… Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. "(Matthew 7:21-23). They will also be in absolute dismay when they will hear that those people they thought were damned instead receive a: “good and faithful servant… enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” (Matthew 25:21,23)
Being a Christian is much more than a compilation of rituals and dogmas and expressions.
Being a Christian is a way of ‘being’, a way of being like Christ.
Being a Christian is reflecting more and more, the sublime character of the Lord. So it is just like he who has seen an admirable and irresistible light at a distance, then by getting nearer to it each day, ends up by being wholly absorbed in it. While he is being immersed, the Light begins to radiate from him, drawing to him and therefore to It, all those who have set their eyes on him (from afar, they first mistake him with the Light Source but as they come closer, they realize that he is only just an emanation of It and thus aspire of an identical finality)...
God bless you!
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