The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. (Ps. 145:8-9)

The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.. (Ex. 34:6-7, NIV)

God’s compassion is not earned; it flows from His nature. He shows mercy to the rebellious, patience with the stubborn, and kindness to the undeserving. The entire gospel narrative is one of divine compassion—God entering into human suffering through Christ, bearing our griefs, and carrying our sorrows (Isa. 53:4).

This is crucial to understand: biblical compassion is not merely a moral imperative or ethical principle. It reflects God’s character. When believers show compassion, they are imaging forth the God who made them. When they withhold compassion, they distort that image.

The Command: Be Compassionate

Because God is compassionate, His people are commanded to be compassionate:

Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. (Col. 3:12)

This is not a suggestion or a spiritual gift limited to certain believers. Compassion is part of the character that all who follow Christ are called to embody. Just as believers are commanded to be holy because God is holy (1 Pet. 1:16), so they are commanded to be compassionate because God is compassionate. The apostle Paul makes clear that compassion is not optional equipment for the Christian life; it is part of the essential wardrobe of God’s chosen ones. To lack compassion is to be improperly dressed for following Christ.

The Demonstration: Action Toward the Vulnerable

Biblical compassion is never merely emotional; it always moves toward action. Scripture repeatedly emphasizes care for specific categories of vulnerable people:

The poor and needy:

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed. (Prov. 19:17)

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? (1 John 3:17, NIV)

The widow and orphan:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

The stranger/foreigner:

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. (Psa. 146:9)

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. (Lev. 19:34)

The sick and imprisoned:

I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me… Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. (Matthew 25:36, 40)

In summary:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart. (Zech. 7:9–10)

What stands out in these passages is their comprehensive scope. God’s concern extends to every category of vulnerable person. There are no exceptions, no “deserving” versus “undeserving” distinctions. Compassion is to be extended to all who suffer. Notice also the active verbs: “be generous,” “visit,” “treat,” “love,” “uphold.” Biblical compassion requires engagement, not merely good intentions or feelings of pity from a distance.

The Parable: The Good Samaritan

Perhaps no passage illustrates biblical compassion more powerfully than Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The story confronts religious indifference directly: the priest and Levite—religious professionals—pass by the wounded man without helping. They likely had reasons: ceremonial purity concerns, possible danger, time constraints. But Jesus offers no justification for their inaction.

The Samaritan, by contrast, embodies compassion:

● He saw the man’s need (he didn’t avert his eyes)

● He had compassion (he allowed himself to feel the man’s pain)

● He acted sacrificially (he used his own resources—time, money, oil, wine)

● He engaged personally (he bandaged wounds, transported the man, arranged ongoing care)

● He made no assessment of the man’s worthiness or background

Jesus concludes by commanding: “Go and do likewise.” This is not optional. The command to show compassion to those in need is as binding as any other command in Scripture.

The parable also reveals something crucial: the religious leaders failed not because they lacked theology or doctrine, but because they lacked compassion. Their religious knowledge and position meant nothing when faced with genuine human need. In fact, their religion seemed to provide them with reasons to avoid helping.

How often does the modern church follow the same pattern—using theology, programs, or “wisdom” to justify inaction in the face of suffering?

The Warning: Judgment for Lack of Compassion

Scripture also contains sobering warnings about the consequences of withholding compassion:

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. (Prov. 21:13)

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (James 2:15-16)

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes the final judgment, where nations are separated based on how they treated “the least of these”—the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, and stranger. Those who failed to show compassion are condemned with the words: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

This is not teaching salvation by works; it’s teaching that genuine faith produces compassionate action. Where compassion is consistently absent, it calls into question whether saving faith exists at all. As James writes, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). The message is clear: God takes compassion seriously. Those who claim to know God but consistently withhold compassion from the vulnerable reveal that they do not truly know Him.

Recovering Compassion: Practical Steps

How can the church recover biblical compassion in a culture of indifference? Several steps are essential:

First, repent. The church must acknowledge and repent of adopting the world’s indifference toward the vulnerable. This includes repenting of:

● Prioritizing comfort over calling

● Judging worthiness rather than extending grace

● Allowing political ideology to replace biblical compassion

● Treating compassion as a program rather than a practice

● Using fear as an excuse for inaction

● Substituting financial support for genuine compassion (“throwing money at the problem”)

Repentance must be specific and concrete, not merely general acknowledgment of failure.

Second, renew the mind. Christians must allow Scripture to reshape how they view the vulnerable. This means:

● Seeing every person—regardless of their circumstances—as an image-bearer worthy of dignity and care

● Recognizing that “there but for the grace of God go I”

● Understanding that Christ identifies with the suffering (Matthew 25:40)

● Remembering that believers themselves were once spiritually destitute and in need of mercy

The renewal of the mind is an ongoing process that requires regular immersion in Scripture and intentional rejection of cultural narratives about worth, value, and deservedness.

Third, cultivate proximity. Compassion grows in relationship. Churches and Christians must intentionally create opportunities for genuine engagement with those who are suffering. This might mean:

● Relocating to underserved neighborhoods

● Volunteering regularly at shelters, food banks, or other service organizations

● Invite refugees over for a meal or on a family outing

● Helping the elderly in your church with tangible needs like mowing the lawn

● Learning the names and stories of homeless individuals in the area

● Inviting those in need into homes and lives, not just offering help from a distance

● Joining or creating small groups that include people from diverse economic backgrounds

Proximity breaks down stereotypes and humanizes those who are easily dismissed from a distance.

Fourth, act sacrificially. Biblical compassion costs something—time, money, comfort, safety. Following Jesus means taking up a cross, not insulating oneself from inconvenience. This doesn’t mean being reckless, but it does mean:

● Being willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of others

● Making real financial sacrifices to help those in need

● Spending time with those who cannot repay or benefit you

● Taking calculated risks to serve the vulnerable

● Choosing the needs of others over personal comfort

Sacrificial action is the proof that compassion is genuine and not merely sentimental.

Fifth, speak prophetically. The church must recover its prophetic voice, calling out indifference and injustice wherever they appear—including in the church itself. This means:

● Challenging systems and structures that dehumanize the vulnerable

● Speaking truth to power about policies and practices that harm the marginalized

● Modeling an alternative way of living that reflects the kingdom of God

● Refusing to be silent when compassion is replaced by contempt

The prophetic voice is not about being political; it’s about being faithful to Scripture’s clear teaching about justice and compassion.

Sixth, anchor everything in the gospel. Ultimately, compassion flows from having received compassion. Christians show mercy because they have been shown mercy. They extend grace because they have received grace. Apart from the gospel, efforts at compassion will either burn out or become self-righteous. The gospel provides:

● Motivation: Believers serve because Christ first served them

● Power: The Holy Spirit enables what human effort cannot produce

● Sustainability: Rooted in God’s inexhaustible love, compassion doesn’t depend on results or reciprocation

● Transformation: Gospel-centered compassion aims not just to meet physical needs but to point people to Christ

This is crucial. Cultural compassion without the gospel becomes either paternalistic charity or political activism. Biblical compassion, rooted in the gospel, transforms both the giver and receiver while pointing both to Christ.

A Choice Before Us

The story of Jessie Mobley Jr. presents the church with a choice. Will the church continue to mirror the culture’s indifference, or will it recover its calling to be a community of compassion? The restaurant staff faced a man in distress and chose convenience over care. They assumed homelessness and therefore worthlessness. They removed the problem rather than engaging the person. How many times have Christians and churches made similar choices?

Scripture is abundantly clear:

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. . . . If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 2:9; 4:20)

The recovery of biblical compassion is not optional for the church. It is central to the gospel witness. A church marked by indifference to suffering is a church that has lost its way. May the church awaken to this crisis. May believers allow the Holy Spirit to break through the hardness that culture has created. And may the love of Christ compel His people to see every person in need as an opportunity to demonstrate the compassion of God—even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s costly, even when it’s risky.

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matt. 7:12)

The world is watching to see if the church’s claims about love and compassion are genuine or merely religious rhetoric. How the church responds to the vulnerable will speak louder than any sermon or statement of faith. The crisis at our door demands a response. Will the church answer the call?

For Reflection:

● Who are the vulnerable people in your immediate sphere of influence?

● What specific steps can you take this week to show biblical compassion to someone in need?

● How might your life look different if you took Jesus’ command to “go and do likewise” seriously?

● Is there someone in need you’ve been avoiding or dismissing? What would it look like to engage with compassion today?

● What fears or priorities need to be surrendered for you to embody biblical compassion?

Prayer Points:

● For transformed hearts: Pray that the Holy Spirit would break through cultural hardness and cultivate genuine compassion in believers’ hearts—compassion that moves beyond sentiment to sacrificial action for the vulnerable and suffering.

● For the church to embody gospel community: Pray that local churches would become places where biblical compassion is demonstrated, not just discussed—where the poor, marginalized, and vulnerable are welcomed, known, and cared for rather than overlooked or dismissed.

● For discernment and courage: Pray for wisdom to see opportunities for compassion in daily life, and for the courage to act even when it’s inconvenient, costly, or risky—choosing the needs of others over personal comfort.

For repentance and renewal: Pray that believers would confess where they have adopted the world’s indifference toward those in need, and that this confession would lead to genuine repentance and a renewed commitment to living out the compassion of Christ.