Taking an interest

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (Philippians 2:1-4 NLT)

Are your hearts tender and compassionate? That might be a tough question for us to answer today because we can all say our hearts are 'tender' and 'compassionate' at least some of the time. The rub comes when we are asked if we act that way toward our enemies, those that irritate us, or 'get on our last nerve'. The other rub comes in that word 'act' - sometimes our tenderness and compassion can be nothing more than an 'act' put on to make us look good in situations where our real feelings are anything but tender or compassionate!

We all know 'wholehearted agreement' amongst our Christian brethren is hard enough but add in the expectation that we operate in the realm of tenderness and compassion toward everyone is kind of a hard pill to swallow. It is hard to 'agree' with those who have hidden agendas, ant their way above any other way, or just plain are disagreeable themselves. God doesn't ask us to condone their actions - he asks us to be tender in our responses, compassionate in our attitude, even when their actions don't always deserve it. This passage doesn't apply to those outside of the faith - it applies to those who have said yes to Jesus. Yet the principles taught within this passage can apply to those outside of the faith, as well.

We don't need to 'like' a person to be tender in our responses to their actions. We just need to remember Jesus loved sinners (including us) even when their behavior wasn't quite what he'd expect to see. He loved the prostitute before she knew she even needed a Savior, but firm in his instruction that she should turn from her sin. He was firm, yet compassionate toward those who took him to the cross, praying for them with his last breath. He was firm with Peter when he took off the Centurian soldier's ear, yet compassionate to the soldier when he restored his ear. He was firm when he told the religious leaders they were wrong in their actions of piety when they ignored the needs of those around them, yet open to receiving Nicodemus when he needed answers himself.

One of the greatest lessons we can learn comes when we realize putting our own interests above those of the others around us isn't his plan. We ALL have interests and needs - no one stands out as 'better than' or 'greater than' someone else. Those who want to live in harmony with others, striving toward unity in the faith, will realize ALL are on a level playing field in God's family. ALL are sinners redeemed by his grace. ALL are undergoing transformation by the power of his Spirit. ALL are struggling with their own issues. ALL need undergirding with the prayers of those around them. Perhaps the lesson we learn today is that we all need to learn how to respond to each other with tenderness and compassion more than we may realize. Just sayin...