In the Exodus liberation story of the Bible, we see Pharoah as the bad guy and the Israelites as the good guys, right? Pharoah is oppressive, stubborn, and against the will of God. While the Israelites are the oppressed, wanting only to be free to go and worship their God. On the surface, it’s a simple story of good versus evil. But ultimately, like the rest of the Bible, the story shows us that God Himself is the only Good Guy. The One who sticks to His word and meets out justice regardless of the “goodness” or “badness” of anyone else.
We know from scripture that only Jesus was found sinless. So, when the Israelites are passed over in Exodus, it isn’t because they’re “good”. They’re shown to be a complaining, faithless people over and over again. But their salvation comes because they’re God’s people. It’s not because they’re without blemish, but because they follow God’s instructions for finding a lamb without blemish. Their willingness to follow these instructions from God indicates their status as His people. And the same holds true today, The Lord doesn't choose to rescue us from calamity because we’re sinless. He rescues us in spite of our foibles because we’re his children.
And He calls us to do the same.
Non-contingent compassion
In my time as a recovering perfectionist, I’ve had to get to know who God really is in all His forgiving, grace-filled glory. And that knowledge has helped me in times of some serious self-loathing. Whether I show up perfectly in every situation; say the right things, do the right things, and feel the “right” way about something — I’m loved and rescued by a God because I am His and because He is kind.
So what does this have to do with our ability to practice compassion?
Personally, even knowing all this to be true of God’s character, I’ve failed to apply the same principle of God’s grace to those I see as somehow failing to do the right things and make the right choices. And I’m sure you have too.
To go any further, the story of the Israelites’ liberation bears further reflection. Under the thumb of Egyptian oppression, the Israelites were a pressurized people. They’re being unfairly overworked. Their babies are being thrown into the Nile! “Overwhelmed,” would be putting it mildly, I’m sure. And that kind of prolonged oppression (400+ years) had to have led to strife amongst them. I envision household tensions and people lashing out against their own communities. I think about the frustrations unleashed against those they were allowed to unleash it upon. Bondage never results in the best of human behavior. Yet the Lord doesn’t turn His back on His people. Instead, He swoops in and fights for them in ways that only He can with 10 mind-blowing plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. He passes over them and asks only that they remember.
Painting a truthful picture of humanity is important for any Christian who claims to be “Bible-believing.” If every human, post-fall, is inherently bent, but also made in God’s image, then there’s no room for bias. At the end of the day, the Lord doesn't look at any of us and say, "Now, there's a perfect woman" or “There’s a perfect man” or “There’s a perfect nation.” It’s more likely that He says "Who understands that I am perfect?" It's an important distinction and one that is easily forgotten in a world determined to make “good guys” and “bad guys” out of us.
We can’t look at ourselves in the proper light and then decide our next door neighbor is less than us, decide our unhoused neighbors aren’t worthy of our help, align ourselves with toxic forms of patriotism, put refugees in cages, or choose to remain ignorant regarding systems that keep people from flourishing. When we ask ourselves whether someone "deserves" our help, we’re asking the wrong question and putting ourselves in the place of God.
How?
A more biblically aligned question is, “How can we best help?”
We're all very moved by stories of men and women persevering in the face of adversity. The kid who grows up poor, "pulls himself up by his bootstraps" and makes good. He becomes the CEO of a Fortune 500 company! We're right to be moved by stories about beating the odds when they’re stacked so highly against someone. It is impressive. But equally as impressive is the teacher who decides to take time out of his busy schedule to offer tutoring sessions along the way. Or the person who offers a job when the kid has no experience, just so he can get experience. Or the woman who volunteers at the shelter and decides to offer not just a bowl of soup, but conversation. To be with one another in suffering is no less impressive. And there isn’t a "bootstrap" story that happens without a non-judgemental helper along the way.
You might be saying, sure — but what about the person who puts themselves in a bad situation, through drug addiction, crime, or any other bad choices?
For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:45
Often modern society continues to punish someone for their crimes long after they’ve done their time, by withholding employment or by making it exceedingly difficult to become employed. And if one finds themselves unemployable, they’re not likely to find a home. Without a home or security of any kind, they’re likely to return to the crime that landed them in trouble in the first place. This scenario and those like it are full of aloneness. And aloneness is the exact opposite of the example God sets for us in scripture. He is “with” people, even when they’ve done nothing to deserve it. Even in their imperfections.
We are not the good guys in the story of life. He is good. Understanding our own position in this life: one of “sinner saved by grace,” is vital in fostering a compassionate posture.
We’re all created differently and given unique gifts, made to help in different ways. In what ways has God created you to help?
Worthy of dignity
Becoming a dog owner has made me increasingly sensitive to the maltreatment or abuse of animals. Recently, a dog trainer that I follow, Zak George, made his followers aware of a man calling himself Dog Daddy. Dog Daddy’s methods can only be called abusive. Typically I use this portion of the essay to share a screenshot of inspiration that I’ve found on Instagram, but due to the violent nature of the video, I won’t be doing that here. You’re free to click the linked name above to watch the latest video, but I’ll be honest I haven’t been able to watch any of them in their entirety.
My hope is that you’ll be moved to action. If so, here’s what you can do:
Visit the links Zak has included in his Instagram profile. Some are links to Google overviews for businesses that are hosting Dog Daddy (where you might call, review, or send emails), and others are for petition signatures to keep Dog Daddy from entering new countries and spreading a false, dangerous, methodology about how to train dogs.
Please do whatever you feel most moved to do.
I hope you enjoyed this month’s installment of Curious Compassion.
Have you ever wanted to discuss these installments of Curious Compassion with me or someone else? Well, guess what? Beginning in September 2023, you can! I’ll be launching a once-per-month Zoom discussion following the release of each essay. During our 40 minutes, we’ll get a little deeper and ask each other the tough questions. Let’s grow together!
The Zoom discussions will be for my paid subscribers only. So, if you haven’t upgraded yet – now’s the time! I’ll be releasing more details as September approaches.
I can’t wait!
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