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Acts 20.38 (NIV)
What grieved them most was his
statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
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| Christianity is not a religion of stoical apathy, but of sanctified human affections.* |
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In
order to inspire friendship of the depth depicted here, Paul had to have given
much of himself to the people he ministered to. How emotionally draining this
must have been as he traveled and allowed himself to care about the people. Surely
it would have been easier for Paul to build an emotional wall to protect
himself from the pain of caring too much. He could have continued to preach and
to minister without so much risk to his own feelings. But Paul was just following the example set by our Lord. In Matthew 14.14,
we are told that Jesus saw the crowd and “he had compassion on them.” Matthew, as one author writes, “is not saying that Jesus felt casual pity for
them. No, the term is far more graphic. . . . Jesus felt their hurt in his gut.”*
If we are going to try to be like
Jesus, then we must be less concerned with protecting ourselves from the pain
that comes with caring about other people. We can go through the motions of the
Christian life and even be effective, but until we love like Jesus loved, we
will never have the abundant life he offers.
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| The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers . . . of love is Hell.* |
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