Lack of compassion - A necessary accompaniment to the gift of singleness?
"How, then, does a lack of kindness and compassion turn people into devils? When they see a need, they shut their eyes to it and thus misrepresent the heart of God to those people."
(Discover the Word)
Captain Sensible writes: It is coming to my attention that there is a very real lack of compassion in Christian circles for the childless, single woman who desires marriage and a family.
She is almost universally scolded and chastised; made to feel guilty for imaginary sins; mocked as a figure of fun; and then told it's all her own fault for having a career, as if unbeknown to her, she at some point in her life renounced marriage because she needed to work to support herself.
People, let's be clear about this:
A lack of compassion for someone in pain is the work of the devil.
And if you think about it, it was a necessary component for the devil's "gift of singleness" to work.
As well as dressing up singleness to be a "gift" from God, the devil had to also destroy the natural compassion that men and women would normally feel, and indeed do actually feel for these women, in the world.
Although I haven't listened to the audio broadcast, I was interested to read this summary of the demonic nature of a lack of compassion, from Discover the Word, the publishers of the devotional "Our Daily Bread".
Titled "A lack of compassion reflects negatively on God", you can hear the broadcast by clicking on the above link, but here is their outline of this message:
Our failure to show love to those who are hurting puts us in league with the devil.
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).
When you hear of people who worship the devil, what kind of picture do you have in your mind?
Do you think there are many people in our country who consider themselves devil worshipers?
We're often confused about what it means to be in league with the devil.
In Matthew 25, those who are goats are sent into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. It is clear that the goats have a common faith with demonic forces.
The word used in Matthew 25:41 is diabolos, which means "slanderer."
What is the nature of a slanderer?
How did Satan/the devil in Matthew 4 show himself to be a slanderer? A slanderer is marked by the fact that he or she misrepresents the truth. In the temptations we see this twisting of truth.
Why or in what way does the behavior of the goats demonstrate something devilish?
Who would be the prime candidates for goats in the gospel of Matthew? The religious leaders.
What was it that the religious leaders did that Jesus condemned?
How, then, does a lack of kindness and compassion turn people into devils? When they see a need, they shut their eyes to it and thus misrepresent the heart of God to those people.
Captain Sensible continues: Isn't this exactly what we are seeing today? And misrepresenting the heart of God has to be one of the most serious sins there is, surely?
I feel I need to stress again to any single women that are reading this, that although they are in a desperate position, there is no need for they themselves to feel desperate. Our God is a great and mighty God, and I firmly believe He is working with us for His good purposes. (I like how the Amplified Bible explains this Romans 8:28 verse.)
Does God want single Christian women -- the precious daughters of the living God -- to reach out to the believing men in the world that also make up the Body of Christ, but currently feel alienated by "the church"?
I think so.
And suddenly, even the position that single Christian women are in doesn't seem so desperate any more, but rather full of exciting potential -- both individually and for the Body as a whole...
(Discover the Word)
Captain Sensible writes: It is coming to my attention that there is a very real lack of compassion in Christian circles for the childless, single woman who desires marriage and a family.
She is almost universally scolded and chastised; made to feel guilty for imaginary sins; mocked as a figure of fun; and then told it's all her own fault for having a career, as if unbeknown to her, she at some point in her life renounced marriage because she needed to work to support herself.
People, let's be clear about this:
A lack of compassion for someone in pain is the work of the devil.
And if you think about it, it was a necessary component for the devil's "gift of singleness" to work.
As well as dressing up singleness to be a "gift" from God, the devil had to also destroy the natural compassion that men and women would normally feel, and indeed do actually feel for these women, in the world.
Although I haven't listened to the audio broadcast, I was interested to read this summary of the demonic nature of a lack of compassion, from Discover the Word, the publishers of the devotional "Our Daily Bread".
Titled "A lack of compassion reflects negatively on God", you can hear the broadcast by clicking on the above link, but here is their outline of this message:
Our failure to show love to those who are hurting puts us in league with the devil.
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).
When you hear of people who worship the devil, what kind of picture do you have in your mind?
Do you think there are many people in our country who consider themselves devil worshipers?
We're often confused about what it means to be in league with the devil.
In Matthew 25, those who are goats are sent into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. It is clear that the goats have a common faith with demonic forces.
The word used in Matthew 25:41 is diabolos, which means "slanderer."
What is the nature of a slanderer?
How did Satan/the devil in Matthew 4 show himself to be a slanderer? A slanderer is marked by the fact that he or she misrepresents the truth. In the temptations we see this twisting of truth.
Why or in what way does the behavior of the goats demonstrate something devilish?
Who would be the prime candidates for goats in the gospel of Matthew? The religious leaders.
What was it that the religious leaders did that Jesus condemned?
How, then, does a lack of kindness and compassion turn people into devils? When they see a need, they shut their eyes to it and thus misrepresent the heart of God to those people.
Captain Sensible continues: Isn't this exactly what we are seeing today? And misrepresenting the heart of God has to be one of the most serious sins there is, surely?
I feel I need to stress again to any single women that are reading this, that although they are in a desperate position, there is no need for they themselves to feel desperate. Our God is a great and mighty God, and I firmly believe He is working with us for His good purposes. (I like how the Amplified Bible explains this Romans 8:28 verse.)
Does God want single Christian women -- the precious daughters of the living God -- to reach out to the believing men in the world that also make up the Body of Christ, but currently feel alienated by "the church"?
I think so.
And suddenly, even the position that single Christian women are in doesn't seem so desperate any more, but rather full of exciting potential -- both individually and for the Body as a whole...
posted by Captain Sensible at 1:17 AM
3 Comments:
Good post. Lack of compassion can come from other women actually, who are refusing to face their own pain. I have heard single Christian women speak in tones of affected puzzlement at other single Christian women who were in their late 20s and 'very upset' that they weren't married yet.
What we actually need is many more women who are open about being upset, because they are more likely to get mobilised to change the situation.
Do you believe that someone who does feel compassion for a childless single woman who desires marriage and family, but in the end, says that you have to wait on God's timing for a husband (i.e. proactivity is unnecessary), and that I should view my singleness as a gift, is in the same category as someone who lacks any compassion at all for the same situation?
Wow - Interesting and difficult question Shazia!
I would have to say, first of all, that they are spreading wrong teaching.
So we need to be quite firm (and thereby Christlike!) with them over that.(Although I know you are a new believer - praise God for you! - so that may be more difficult for you and so you would have to tread a bit more carefully!)
Do they have compassion is a lot harder to discern though.
I would be tempted to say, no, I don't think they do.
But in all honesty, I have a problem here.
Most of the "gift of singleness" advocates, and "contentment lecture" givers, are themselves married - thinking primarily of the church leaders that got married at about age 12 and have 7 or 8 children! ;-)
There are also married women who I would place in the same category.
But then...there's Carolyn McCulley.
She throws a bit of a spanner in the works!
I believe she is herself suffering with what she stubbornly still insistes on calling a "gift", but I do think she has compassion -- it's just very misguided and ends up doing more harm than good.
So to answer your question (very badly, I know!) I would say in most instances, no, they do not have true compassion.
But I have raised the point and God is the final judge over people's hearts.
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