Being Compassionate without Ulterior Motives

What I love most about the way Jesus responded to those who were not students of his (see my previous blog post) was that he showed them the greatest compassion without any ulterior motives. Think about how many Christians respond to outsiders today. We view them as a body, a number to be gained for the church. Our desire is to convert them. This was the big thing on my college campus. Out on the square, I would see Christians each day going up to people and asking, "are you a Christian?" This is the first thing they would say to them. No "hello," no introduction, just "are you a Christian?" If the answer was "no" the evangelizer would start going into a speech about how they need to become a Christian because of their sins. I see the same thing from time to time when I am out and about. Going into Starbucks the patron may ask the barista "Are you a Christian?" Sitting in Barnes and Noble, two people sitting next to each other may strike up a conversation. Not too far into it one asks the other "Are you a Christian?" I think I mentioned in a past blog that I was reading a book by a psychologist who had a woman in his office crying about some distress. This was her visit, and the very first question the psychologist asked the woman was, "Are you a Christian?"

Since when did conversion become the task of Christianity. Matthew 28:19-20 does not say "go and make converts of all men," it says, "go and make disciples." A disciple is literally a student, someone who spends time learning from you. Yet we act like we are to convince a person of the truth of Jesus and once that is accomplished we can walk away and leave the convert to find a church of their own. (Or if we are lucky, convince them to go to our church). I liked Jesus' method of making disciples. He did not ask them first time around, "do you believe in me." How could they? He did not yet have a relationship with them. And that is the key. Jesus spent time with people. He cared about them and showed them how much he cared. He would spend time with people without asking about their background, without finding out about their religious affiliation. The Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant and Jesus was willing to go immediately to his home. Jesus spent time with people and did not have any pretense. The greatest part is that Jesus did not try to convince people to follow him. From time to time he would ask them to follow him, in special cases, like with the twelve. But mostly, people followed him without him needing to do a thing but care. If people chose not to follow Jesus after Jesus spent time with him, he was fine with that and never pushed the issue. If people wanted to follow, he was fine with that. (There is the rare exception where Jesus asked a person not to follow, but this was always because that person had a greater purpose where they were at).

In our interactions with outsiders today, we need to possess the attitude of Jesus, caring about people and developing relationships with them. We needn't bring up the issue of religion with people until it seems right, appropriate in the context of conversation and relationship. After all, we do not know what kind of attitude a person has toward Christianity until we have developed a relationship with them. If we open up with, "Are you a Christian," we might get a fist in our face and lose the person for good. But if we develop a good, trusting relationship with them, then we can bring up the subject of Christ in a safe and secure environment where they can explain their anger and hurt toward Christianity in a relationship where they know they won't be judged and where maybe some mutually understanding can arise. This is true discipleship and what Jesus desired when he asked us to make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28.
God bless.
-Brandon