There's a word in the Gospels that precedes many of Jesus' most memorable miracles: "compassion."
Jesus was filled with compassion for thousands of hungry and sick people before healing their sick and then miraculously feeding them with just a few fish and loaves of bread (Mathew 14). As Jesus traveled from town to town, he saw crowds "like sheep without a shepherd" and had compassion, healing the sick and diseased (Matthew 9). He healed a man riddled with leprosy after being "moved with compassion" (Mark 1).
Jesus was moved to teach out of compassion (Mark 6), heal out of compassion, raise the dead out of compassion (Luke 7), and comfort others out of compassion (Luke 7).
Jesus even included compassion as a primary emotion in his parables (Luke 10).
The Old Testament is a slow revealing of Yahweh to the reader and to His people. Interestingly, Genesis 1 doesn't start with an introduction to *exactly* who Yahweh is. In fact, Genesis 1 doesn't even name the "God" it's talking about.
It isn't until after Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (and many more generations) that we finally get some answers about this God we serve.
Even Moses spent much of His time in relationship with Yahweh knowing little more than His name. And then finally, when Moses is preparing the stones that hold the Ten Commandments, the question is finally answered.
The who Yahweh is... the "what are you like?" question that had not been revealed for generations is finally made known.
Exodus 34:6
Yahweh! The Lord!
The God of compassion and mercy.
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
The God of compassion and mercy.
NIV says "compassionate and gracious God."
ESV says "a God merciful and gracious."
MSG says "a God of mercy and grace."
You see the pattern here, right?
Mercy and grace are the same as compassionate. Compassion is an alternate way of referring to God's mercy and grace.
The Hebrew origin, in fact, for this word "compassion" is a word that means "the womb." It's the deep care that comes from a mother to her child. The response a parent has for their offspring.
One that forgives and forgives and forgives. The innate response that delights in giving good gifts, and holds off from giving out punishment as much as possible.
So when Jesus is moved with compassion it's the same as saying "the God that walked with us in human form acted out of the very nature of who He is, being a God who shows favor and kindness and care for His own children."
This is what God is like. This is the God we serve.
I was with a dear friend for coffee, talking through her own experiences being called to plant a church. And we started to talk about where and who and how... and I was reminded how absolutely critical it is to be compassionate for those you're preparing to serve.
We feel beholden to clients to do a good job, we feel frustrated with clients who can't take advice, we try to build quality widgets or products so that we have great reviews or return customers...
But compassionate? Rarely.
Even pastors struggle with this. After years of serving the same community they can often lose their own sense of passion and compassion for the people they're called to love.
But interestingly, there is no other word used to describe the way that Jesus moved to help those around Him.
There is not a scripture that says "He was moved by pity," or "He was moved by obligation," or even "He was moved by love."
Although we know Jesus perfectly embodies love.
Empathy, though nice, is actually quite an empty feeling when not followed by compassion.
Compassion is what moves us to action.
So then the question becomes... how do we find compassion?
How do we move past our worst (complacency) or even our best (genuine empathy or concern) into a Spirit-led place of truly acting out of compassion?
Again, the key is really in reading about the way Jesus operated.
Jesus was filled with the Spirit (very important!) and He went out among the people.
He was not moved in compassion sitting in a quiet garden thinking about all those crowds. He was not moved in compassion eating at the table with his disciples talking about the widows and the poor.
Those things are good and certainly part of His life here on earth.
But it was when he saw the crowds, confronted the sorrow in the eyes of a mother grieving her son, felt the power go out of him when a woman touched his robe, heard the sound of children being kept away from his presence... he was moved with compassion as he interacted with people and looked them in the eye.
How much more do we need to hear people's stories, shake their hands, and meet them in the eye?
It's there we begin to dream about new ways to help our community. It's there we start asking how we can serve our employees with dedication and purpose. It's in experiencing the very character of God that we can be His hands and feet... for real.
It begins with curiosity.
It begins with humility.
It begins with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Being an entrepreneur, you've probably asked yourself many times "what am I passionate about?"
And that's great! We all have gifts, skills, and passions that help drive our direction and purpose.
Passion might tell us generally what, but compassion tells us who and where and maybe even how. It answers the question that passion begs.
Compassion directs our passions toward the very people we're meant to dedicate our time and resources to.
Engage in the conversation with Jesus. Ask Him to reveal something you didn't realize was buried in your heart.
Begin asking questions of others. Begin listening more intently to the water-cooler conversations of your employees. Start reading between the lines of social posts or prayer requests.
There are unmet needs and deeply personal realities that Jesus wants to transform in the lives of people you have access to. And He might want to move you in compassion to do something about it.