07-25-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 25, 2024
In his book, “Just Mercy,” Bryan Stevenson writes, 

“We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated. An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.”

Like yesterday, those words can cause one to feel uncomfortable, as it sure feels as if those words are spoken with judgment in our direction. Guilt can create defensiveness, but realization and repentance can stretch us toward becoming the people God has called us to be in Jesus. While I see some amazing acts of compassion, including among the people of Cypress Creek Christian Church, there has definitely been a pushback against compassion in our culture. In place of compassion, we blame, shame, and scapegoat. Every expression of community has a soul, that is, an essence that speaks to its true identity. I’m not talking about the one that can be fabricated with flowery language and pithy declarations. That’s not the soul of a community. If you want to understand the soul, look for those acts of compassion that have the community stretching itself beyond itself.

May the compassion I have received take root within me, O God of Expansive Grace, for I cannot place the call for empathy and kindness as someone else’s responsibility. Amen.