Obedient Compassion

At the time of this writing, our church is getting ready for our “Compassion Weekend” where we’ll be going into the surrounding community to minister to those around us through cleaning up parks, ministering to the homeless, etc. We have a desire to be the hands and feet of Christ in our city and to be a light without expecting anything in return.

The toughest part in all of this, in my opinion, is having the right motivation and heart attitude while doing ministry. It is against our human nature to minister to others without expecting something out of it for us. At the very least, whether we admit it or not, we expect to feel good about what we’re doing or for the people we serve to be grateful for what we’re doing. But our ministry needs to be motivated by something and Someone much greater than that. Is our desire to serve able to withstand receiving nothing out of it?

A few days ago Jenn and I went on our weekly grocery store run. When we pulled into the parking lot we saw a man standing on the median holding a cardboard sign that said, “Homeless. Anything will help.” We decided that we would bring the man a sports drink after we went shopping. As we exited the parking lot we pulled up and handed him the drink. He said thank you, the light turned green, and we drove off.

As we pulled onto the highway to head back to our apartment, I felt a tugging on my heart to do more for the man so I asked Jenn if I could drop her off at the apartment and head back to take the man out for pizza. After bringing Jenn home, I turned around and headed back to the store where I found the man, still standing there with his sign. I walked up to him and asked what his name was and where he was staying. He told me that his name was Dave and that he and his girlfriend were living in a tent in the woods behind the store. I then asked if I could take him to get a pizza. He said he didn’t want to leave his girlfriend who was sleeping in the tent because he didn’t have a cell phone. I then offered to go grab one for him and asked if he needed anything else. He said that he wasn’t picky and that he didn’t need anything else.

I called in the order to Pizza Hut and then headed over. On my way I stopped and bought Dave and his girlfriend some basic necessities like deodorant, water, etc. I then went to Pizza Hut, picked up the pizza, and returned to the grocery store. But when I arrived, Dave was not on the median where I left him. I went behind the store to see if I could see his tent but I couldn’t. I then went inside to look for him but he wasn’t there. After driving around the parking lot a couple more times, I decided to leave.

Thoroughly discouraged and frustrated, I got back on the highway and headed home with many questions running through my head. Why did God allow me to go through all that trouble just to have the man leave without receiving what I was going to give him? Weren’t my intentions pure enough for God to honor them? What was the point of God giving me a desire to help someone if the person wasn’t going to be there when I returned?

As I continued to reflect on the situation, I realized how truly self-focused my questions were. God can provide for Dave’s needs without any of my help and He wasn’t surprised that Dave wasn’t there when I returned. In this moment, God was teaching me that He calls His people to obedience, not good feelings or even success. God, through His Scripture, tells us to be obedient to His command to care for those in need. He doesn’t promise that we’ll feel good about what we’re doing or even that what we’re doing will be effective. He just calls us to obey, to honor His commands because we love Him. Pleasing Him should be our only desire. We can’t do this on our own but He has given us the Holy Spirit to mold us and change us so that we are more like Christ in His compassion.

Do we have faith to fail? Does our motivation to serve others come from a desire to be obedient to God’s calling or to get something out of it for ourselves like being able to pat ourselves on the back for helping someone else? Do we measure success by effectiveness or by faithfulness to His call regardless of the outcome? May we be a people that are marked by a desire to be obedient to God’s call, who have a heart for the down and out and the needy, and who have a faith that is completely Christ-aware instead of self-aware.