A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. Proverbs 11:17
Since we are entering into the season of Advent, preparation for Christmas, and due to the fact that many of our students will be reading A Christmas Carol over the next few weeks, and whereas we are having a book discussion on the same work on December 13th, it seems fitting to use Scrooge as a negative example of our character trait this month: compassion.
For anyone familiar with the story of A Christmas Carol it should be obvious and plain that Ebenezer Scrooge is the very antithesis of compassion at least…to begin with. His treatment of Bob Cratchit is borderline inhumane, denying him the tiniest flicker of flame to warm himself in his “tank.” He snaps at the men seeking donations for the poor and wishes them to go to the poor house, the treadmill, or simply die and, “decrease the surplus population.” Indeed, as Dickens writes, “External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, nor wintry weather chill him.” His concern for the well-being and needs of others was nonexistent.
God, on the other hand, commands us to put the well-being and needs of others ahead of our own. Jesus, naturally, gave us the perfect and ultimate example who, “existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant… (Phil. 2:6-7a)” In Colossians 3 we are told to “put on” compassion, reminding us that it is not a natural affinity, but a conscious decision.
It bears mentioning that compassion is not the same as being nice to someone. Our society, and some Christians, expect that to be a good Christian we must be “nice” to people all the time. Not only is this pure folly, it is also absent from the biblical understanding of God’s character and how he treats people. Being nice means we would never tell someone that they were doing something wrong or destructive to themselves or others. Being compassionate means caring deeply about the well-being of a person - what’s best for them. Think staging an intervention for a drug addict. They’re probably not going to like it, but it is what is best for them.
Mysteriously, Proverbs tells us that being compassionate and kind (also something we’re told to put on in Colossians 3) not only benefits the other person, but also us. In God’s infinite wisdom he has designed the system to benefit both the giver and receiver of compassion. It is good to give, and when we do we lose nothing, but only stand to gain. Therefore, let us strive to be people who display godly compassion and genuinely care about the well-being of those around us.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Christian Herring
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