Torch, Spring 2002

12 TORCH / Spring 2002 His feet with perfume! But it was His approachability that allowed Him to hear the cries of those around Him. You’ll never be a good listener if you are not approachable. You may think yourself a successful businessman or businesswoman. You may have degrees and certificates of achievement on your wall. You may be known for being very bright. But you have to let people know you have time for them. You must be approachable or you will never have the ability to display the compassion of Christ. Christ was not only approachable; He was also genuine. Jesus was a perfect contrast to the religious leaders of His day. Why did people reach out to Jesus? Why didn’t they go to the Pharisees? Why didn’t they go to the Sadducees? The answer is that the Pharisees and Sadducees weren’t “real.” They were not authentic. They were legalistic, they worked on their traditions, and they saw themselves as fulfilling the law. But they didn’t have any time for people. Sometimes we conservative, Bible-believing Christians can become very much like the Pharisees and Sadducees. We get caught up with our own versions of legalism and our own sets of rules and fail to think what effect this has on our communities and on the unsaved people with whom we come into contact. There’s a certain superficial level of Christianity that causes us not to hear, and therefore we aren’t good listeners. Again, those of us who understand that our own salvation is only because of the grace of God in our lives have no excuse for legalistic pride. We must be genuine. Christ was approachable and genuine. He was also insightful. Christ was able to see beyond what people were saying. My wife says it like this: “He was sensitive.” He was intuitive. Most married men would agree that our wives have far better intuition than we do. They can size up people far better than we can. They can be in a situation, walk away and say, “I’m not sure that guy is for real,” while that’s never crossed our minds. Christ was intuitive. He was able to look beyond the surface. Are we really listening? God give us ears to hear. If we are going to have the compassion of Christ to transform our culture, we need to hear like Christ. An Advocating Plea Not only do we need to see and hear like Christ, we also need to pray like Christ. The emphasis of our Lord on prayer was greater than anyone in the Old Testament: greater than Moses, David, Abraham, and any of the Old Testament prophets. The Gospels record 52 days of our Lord’s earthly journey. That’s all! Less than two months. And of those 52 days, we see Jesus praying on at least 19 different occasions. We know that the compassionate Christ put a major emphasis on prayer. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus How to Have Christlike Compassion Top: The pangs of poverty, hunger, and homelessness can strike at any age, across any demographic strata.