Living in the Image of God M02S01
In a call to compassion, God directs a person to earn blessing by providing goods or service to benefit others in need. Recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to doing what you can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. You will earn blessing for completing the responsibilities or incur punishment for declining. The beneficiary also has a responsibility: appreciation.
We begin a bible study series on Compassion—the second module of the Living in the Image of God program. Recall (from Human Responsibilities in Living in the Image of God) that compassion is one of four cardinal human responsibilities of Living in the Image of God. Each study in the series will be presented in a short description, a ten-minute video, and a downloadable discussion guide with notes.
Our understanding of compassion is based on Christ teaching in the Beatitudes and in parables. Also, we find the dictionary definition of compassion quite consistent with Christ teaching. Therefore, we examine the dictionary definition along with the bible information. We describe as call to compassion a situation whereby God alerts a person to a need, thereby inviting the person to provide goods or service to benefit others in need. We see that a call to compassion actually is an invitation to earn blessing. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31–46) conveys an understanding that God judges a person favorably for completing responsibilities in a call to compassion or unfavorably for declining the call. That is, the call recipient does not have any option for a neutral response (see more in Call to Compassion: Parable of the Sheep and the Goats).
Also, as we discuss in a previous study under Created in the Image of God, we understand compassion in the context of a conceptual human interactions network that God establishes for distributing human service to points of need. Every person is potentially a provider of goods and service needed by others and receiver of goods and service provided by others. Both the provider (i.e., call recipient in a call to compassion) and receiver (i.e., beneficiary in a call to compassion) have responsibilities. The provider responsibility is to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to doing what he or she can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. The receiver responsibility is to receive the provided goods or service with appreciation. We discuss the provider and receiver responsibilities in this and subsequent studies in the series.
Dictionary Definition of Compassion
The dictionary.com website defines compassion as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/compassion, accessed on May 3, 2021). According to the definition, compassion begins with recognizing a need and the needy; caring about the needy; commitment to alleviate the need, motivated by care of the needy; and perseverance in seeking to alleviate the need. All elements of the dictionary definition are consistent with Christ teaching.
Compassion Based on Christ Teaching
In Beatitudes 4 and 5, Christ proclaims God’s promise of blessing for a person that cares about others (i.e., desires to be good to others) and is sensitive to the needs of others: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” [Matthew 5:6] and “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” [Matthew 5:7]. Care for others motivates sensitivity to their needs.
CALL TO COMPASSION A “call to compassion” is when God alerts a person to a need of others, thereby inviting the person to provide goods or service to benefit others in need. Like in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–35) when passers-by noticed that a man was down and needed help. As we discuss under Compassion—Sensitivity to Needs, God uses a “call to compassion” to invite a person to earn blessing by attending to the need of others. He uses the call to direct the person to earn blessing that God has ordained for him or her. The call recipient earns blessing by completing his or her responsibilities under the call. Thus, a call to compassion is, indeed, an offer of opportunity to earn blessing.
Compassion in Human Interactions Network
God creates every person to represent him in human interactions with others. As we discuss under Created in the Image of God, he establishes a network of people for every person and may remove people from the network or insert people into the network at any time. That is, he establishes a dynamic network of human interactions and relationships around every person, such that every person is a channel for God’s presence and human interactions among others in the network.
God uses the human interactions network to distribute human service to points of need. He defines provider-receiver relationships among people in a network and establishes responsibility for the provider and responsibility for the receiver. The provider responsibility is to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to providing goods or service to address the need, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. The receiver responsibility is to receive the provided goods or service with appreciation.
Blessing or Punishment in Call to Compassion
A person earns blessing by completing responsibilities in a call to compassion. That is, you recognize a need that God places on your path, care about the needy, commit to doing what you can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. In contrast, a person incurs punishment by declining a call to compassion. There is no neutral response. As we discuss in a previous study under Call to Compassion: Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, you either complete the responsibilities and earn blessing or decline the call and incur punishment.
Summary of What We Learned
In a call to compassion, God directs a person to earn blessing by providing goods or service to benefit others.
The call recipient is to recognize the need, care about the needy, commit to doing what they can, and persevere in seeking to alleviate the need. He or she earns blessing for completing the responsibilities or incurs punishment for declining.
The beneficiary also has a responsibility: to receive the provided goods or service with appreciation.