Compassion: Feeling it in Your Gut

Last Friday, a group of students who ventured to Cambodia on a three week mission trip in May came and spoke in my school's chapel service. They all had amazing testimonies of the horrific evil that had been witnessed, and the powerful love that is healing lives of broken people. One of the most impactful testimonies came from a friend and work supervisor of mine. She described the anger that she felt at the beginning of the trip toward the traffickers/pedophiles who buy and sell young girls with no regard to human value. It's easy to see why she felt that way. But as the trip went on, she prayed that God would soften her heart, and by the end, she actually felt compassion towards these men who do such horrific acts to the most vulnerable members of society. Clearly they must have been deeply traumatized in order to think that what they do is okay. This compassion has led her to complete her counseling internship with clients who are sex offenders.

The Greek word for Compassion can be transliterated as splagchnizomai, and is actually a verb. While we may think of compassion as something to be felt, this understanding gives it more of a call to action. Another interesting facet of this word is that it is related to the word "splanchna," literally meaning "the inward parts." Compassion is not the same as pity or even sympathy. Compassion is when you see something so unjust that you feel it deep in your gut, and you cannot rest until something is done.

The first time that splagchnizomai occurs in the New Testament is in Matthew 9, when Jesus is traveling among the towns and villages, teaching and healing. He sees how many people are so deeply hurt, and he has compassion on them, "because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (9:36). And then he did something about it. Of course, he had already been acting to heal these lost people, but he knew that he would not always physically be there, so he turned to his disciples, saying, "the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (9:37).

I am praying for greater compassion towards the ones God loves, and for a revelation of how I can be a laborer in His harvest. Will you also pray that prayer?