Compassion

Recently I got into a kerfuffle on Facebook about abortion.  (I knew better, really.  I mean, who changes their mind based on some FB wall posts?)   I called it murder and was told that I needed to work on my compassion.  I was told that Jesus doesn't judge. 

Really?  Because the Jesus I serve is kind of a badass.  I mean, He knocked over tables in the Temple and drove the moneychangers out with a whip.  In Revelation He returns on stallion with a sword and judges the Earth. 

Now, I know, I am not Jesus.  I know the verse constantly thrown in the faces of Christians.  (I read recently that the most common verse known by unbelievers used to be John 3:16.  Now it is Matthew 7:1-2.)  I get that we need to be gentle with others and strict with ourselves.  We need to self-examine before we point out others' sins.  

But we also need to be honest.  And call things like they are.  Of course we should show compassion to individual women who have had or are considering abortion.  Of course we shouldn't make death threats to abortionists or stone them in the street.  

But compassion is a complicated.  How do you show compassion for someone without condoning their sin?  How do we reach out to women while still working to end the genocide that is abortion? 

Jesus had to be the most compassionate person to walk the planet.  But He still called sin sin.  I don't think He wants us to stand idly by and allow the murder of innocents. 

I've heard the same logic used to condemn evangelism.  People get all peeved when they are called sinners.  Have you heard some altar calls lately?  I've heard some on TV that make Jesus sound like a magic infomercial panacea.  But salvation is so much more than a "better life" scheme or a set of steps towards ultimate fulfillment.

How can one recognize their need for a Savior until they recognize their sin?  And how will anyone every realize their sin when we bow to our culture's false idol of tolerance?

Compassion has to be two-fold.  Kindness AND truth.  Holiness AND love.  Gentle AND firm.  Because my Savior is all those things, and He is the one I want to emulate.