When it comes to sharing our faith and reaching out to others with the gospel, we tend to offer a excess of excuses as to why we cannot do it. Maybe the reason we don’t try to win people to Christ is because we really couldn’t care less. Churches get so absorbed with “Church” they forget what church is.
Now, that isn’t true of every Christian. But it is true of a lot of Christians. And it’s not true for every church yet again it is true for a lot of churches.
Jesus told a story about ten bridesmaids in Matthew 25.
Five were wise, and five were foolish. The five who were wise had oil in their lamps, and the five who were foolish did not. And when the cry went out that the bridegroom was coming, the five bridesmaids who didn’t have oil in their lamps asked the others for some.
But the bridesmaids who had the oil said to them, “We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves” (Matthew 25:9 NLT).
In other words, “It’s not our problem. We have ours. We’re happy. Go work out your own problems.”
That is the way many people in the church feel. We don’t want to be bothered with all of your problems we have enough of our own. What they are saying is: We just don’t care.
I was somewhat put back when I went to the Bowie Mission meeting the other day. Cindy reported that she contacted four pastors about coming to the Mission to pray for the people on a rotation bases and all four turned her down. I don’t know their reason for turning her down but I was amazed at what she told me. She asked me if I could come pray for the people and I volunteered and really had a good time praying for those who came for help. I saw this as a great opportunity to outreach to people and offer them the love of our church.
We hear so much about the need for evangelism. We hear sermons on how to do it. And we engage in programs designed to mobilize the church to do it. But all this is of no consequence if we lack one simple essential: a burden for unbelievers.
One of the most important things of all is motivation. We must have the motivation to share our faith. And if we don’t have the motivation, we are not going to do anything.
So, do we really care? Do we really care about people who don’t know Christ? Do we really care if they go to Hell? Does it really matter to us? Do we have compassion?
The great British preacher C. H. Spurgeon said, “The Holy Spirit will move them (the lost) by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too; but if you are filled with an agony for them, and if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy too.”
Everywhere Jesus went during His earthly ministry, He was mobbed by people who were pushing and pulling and always wanting something from Him. They wanted healing, like the woman who had the issue of blood and desired to just touch Christ’s hem or like the blind man in John 9:7 instructed to wash in the pool of Siloam. So many wanted a touch from the Savior. So many today need to be touched by the Savior too.
Jesus sees their deepest need. He sees where they were hurting the most. He sees behind the facades, behind the defense mechanisms people put up. Jesus hears the real cry of their hearts. And He has compassion on them. In the story of Lazarus found in John 11 Mary and her sister Martha came to Jesus and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” In this story Jesus moved in his spirit cried. You know that verse 35 is the shortest verse in all the Bible. It reads, “Jesus wept.”
But why did Jesus weep, why did he cry? After all Jesus knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, so why did He cry?
We see the answer in verse 33: “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in the spirit and troubled.”
Jesus saw the sadness they were suffering because of the loss of their brother and this moved Jesus, he had compassion for them because of their loss. Jesus has the same compassion for us at our loss too. Yes, Jesus knows that one day they too, like Lazarus will be resurrected from the grave but the sorrow, the sadness we morn over also causes Jesus to weep for us.
In Luke 7:11-17 tells the story of Jesus encountering a widow who is mourning the loss of her only son during a funeral procession. Jesus sees the woman in her sorrow and is move with compassion. He tells her, “Do not cry.” Jesus touches the coffin causing the pall bearers to stop. Jesus says, “Young man, I tell you: Get up”. Then Jesus presents him to his mother alive and well.
Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (NLT).
If we are going to be used by God in any capacity, we have to develop something called compassion. We have to care.
We know that, according to the Bible, God is “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, exemplified all of the Father’s attributes, including His compassion. We as followers of Christ must exemplify the attributes of Christ and show our compassion not only for the needy, but also for those in need of a Savior.
The word “compassion” literally means “to suffer together.” Compassion is defined as the feeling that arises when you are confronted with another’s suffering and feel motivated to relieve that suffering.
As much compassion Jesus had for the needy, the hurting, the sorrow, He has a greater passion for their salvation. So much so Christ opened up His arms and died.
Christ wants you well, He wants you alive, but mostly He wants you saved.
The most important task you can accomplish as a Christian is to bring someone to forgiveness and salvation. To do so is to share in the passion of Christ and to share in His compassion for a hurting, lost world.
So, what do you think, are you up to it? Can you care enough to bring them to Christ for healing, for salvation? I think you are.