Friday, August 18, 2006
Blog Compassion
Greg's recent ("You Make The Call" at http://gregengland.com/ ) post and some (including mine) of the comments prompted me to think about the concept of "compassion." As I see it, there are definitely two sides to this coin with respect to pitching to “Jordan,” the stud of the 9 and 10 year old baseball team, or practicing good baseball strategy and intentionally walking Jordan to get to “Romney,” a skinny, frail cancer survivor by all accounts.
First, there is the stance of pitching to Jordan and thus practicing some level of compassion in pitching to the good hitter and not avoiding Jordan to get to a sure out in pitching to Romney. Though I answered in the affirmative of this choice I will admit that the old “Ball (to borrow a Steve Spurrier term) Coach” in me winced at not practicing the obvious choice based on Baseball Strategy 101 and thus appearing to not support my players and my team if I had been the opposing coach.
I guess I just stated some of the second position which would be to be true to your boys and your team and as some of the folks who commented on Greg’s blog stated, no one forced Romney to play baseball. In making such a choice, Romney needs to be welcomed into the (my phrasing now so forgive me if I’m not characterizing some of the opposing comments) world of winners and losers because this is a reality of life.
In all of the thinking I’ve been doing on this subject I’ve only come up with more questions:
1. When is it the right time to bring children from the world of innocence into the world of winners, losers, competition, and “reality?”
2. I’ll go counter “Mr. Spock” on this one. Is there ever a time when the needs of the “few” out-weigh the needs of the “many?”
Final thoughts – As a teacher I’ve seen education (my opinion) become less “compassionate” due to the state of “high stakes testing” that we currently find ourselves operating under. Perhaps we need this kind of environment to compete in a global economy?
Second – As I turn my thoughts towards my experiences as a Christian I have been confronted by acts that seemed to be devoid of compassion. The most recent taking place in July when an individual not belonging to our church, took bits and pieces of some of my posts and attempted to used them to discredit what ever character I possess, at a recent gathering here in Florida. I thought I was use to these acts which seem to be devoid of compassion but I wasn’t. I was thrown “back” for a couple of days.
To this “brother / sister” who will remain nameless, I say welcome to our blog family. I say this with as much love and compassion as I can muster. You are welcome to comment at any time. I say that as an honest invitation and not a veiled challenge. We have varying opinions in this blog community but our love for one another is unwavering.
To this “brother/sister” I say please believe me when I say that I am not a threat to your church. I respect your church, your church's ministry, and your elders. I wish nothing but the best for you and the congregation that you attend. I do wish our 2 churches could find ways to work (I believe we’ve tried) together but if nothing else, I wish that we could just peacefully co-exist.
My brothers and sisters, those who like me and those who despise me, those who know me and those who know of me, I make an appeal to all of us:
No matter what we would have done in the case of “Jordan and Romney,” we must endeavor to do this:
To be Jesus to one another and perhaps that means showing compassion even to those we don’t like.
I welcome all readers to my blog and I hope you always feel free to agree, respectfully disagree, and by all means, to comment. If you’re local (and even if you’re not) please feel free to call me if you feel you need something clarified or if you feel that I need correcting. I may not agree with you but I promise to listen to you in love.
There’s my heart the best way I know how to bare it on this imperfect medium of the written word.
Have a good weekend guys.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
(1) You are, in my estimation, a very good and godly man! It would be a rich blessing to work and worship with a congregation that had shepherds like you. Don't let anybody or anything sour you. It's not that I'm suggesting that you seem to be inclined towards this end. I've known others who have been embittered by such behavior.
(2) Isn't it just so totally frustrating how consistently we are utterly inconsistent? Isn’t it amazing how insistent we are about the idea of churches of Christ being locally autonomous? Some people seem to say by their actions which we know speak more loudly than words that local autonomy is essential when I me doing what I believe is correct, but not when you seek to act on your convictions. In my estimation, the issue isn’t doctrinal. It’s a matter of the heart! My sense is that the unmitigated arrogance of such behavior finds its parallel in the New Testament in the Pharisees. If you can tell a lot about the character of a man by the company he keeps, well…. You get the point.
I’m all for compassion and totally unconcerned about winning life’s games. I had a college roommate who played on his university's tennis team. After playing with him a few times, we had to stop keeping score. The problem was, he couldn’t stand for me to beat him. He was the jock and I was the kid from the dusty environs of No Man’s Land (that’s what the Oklahoma Panhandle was called for a time). I tried showing him some compassion and letting him win occasionally, but this even made him angrier. If we didn’t keep score he could go on being a legend in his own mind, being so full of him self that it appeared that his big head might pop.
I could say more, but you are wise enough to get the point. As long as competition is the name of the game and winning is the goal, showing compassion will always be the exception, not the norm. Perhaps Jesus was not just touting a novel idea when he said that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. Or, perhaps Jesus' noting that the command to love others as ourselves was second only to loving God with our whole being was more than an astute observation. He did say it was a command, right?
It’s not too difficult to see the irony here, is it? Those who are the most insistent that everyone follow the commands of God very often violate God’s command with respect to loving one another in the process. After all, doesn’t love even cover a multitude of sins? Sorry for launching off on this one. I’ll let the Holy Spirit’s message through the Apostle of John as recorded in 1 John 4:7-12 wrap this up:
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
A thousand shalom’s to you, my friend,
-bill
John - I felt as if it was a "low blow" but apparently my potential friend feels the same about me. I want us all to take the "high road." Goodness knows it makes for (as my son said earlier) a stress free environment.
Judy - I'm so glad you belong to our blog family. What a model you are to all of us, still full of grace and love for us when you disagree with us. Thank you.
Bill - You need to come visit us here in lovely (humid until October) Central Florida. Wouldn't it be interesting if for a year, we could all work, worship, and serve together in the same church? Of course, it would beg the question, who gets Chipper?
Thanks for your friendship and your labor of love.
Peace.
Twice in the last few months I have had my words fed back to me in ways you would never believe. Because of a post a few weeks ago about God blessing me at the pump, I'm now a gas thief and e-mails are flying through our church. One man told our deacons "You ought to fire his little fat butt." (an oxymoron if u ask me)
They may not have to. I don't know how much more I can take. And I may have to do what I despise - shutting down my blog for good.
As my wife put it, Satan is winning again. Sorry to unload like this but these things had to be said and I can't say them on my blog so I chose to do it here. I'd appreciate no one referencing this rant over at Blessings.
Thank you for your support, love and friendship.
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