‘That time when a little dose of humility changed by approach to humanity'

In 1988, I went to Zambia for the first time. As a young pastor, I was full of faith and a fair bit of arrogance, that I would be the next Reinhard Bonnke and Africa would be saved! One day, we went to a hospital that lacked resources, hygiene and good sanitation. The smell was horrible. I felt out of my depth, out of my comfort zone! As we went around praying for the sick, I was happy to pray but not get too close! But God was about to do something in me…

We came into a small room and there lying on a very thin, soiled mattress was a guy whose body was wasted away, the root cause being HIV Aids. When I heard what was wrong, I didn’t just recoil physically, but I recoiled in every other way too! I’m not proud to say this, but disgust, judgmentalism, disapproval and fear rose up in me, fear because we’re always afraid of things we don’t understand!

You see it was 1988, AIDS was prevalent not just in Africa but globally, we didn’t really understand it, and there was a lot of fear surrounding it – was it an airborne disease? Communicable by touch? Was it just amongst homosexuals? As these thoughts were going through my mind, the pastor from the church we were working with said we needed to change his sheet and then asked me to lift him up so they could do so. It meant I had to touch him!!!!

Everything in me screamed No way; but God was giving me an opportunity to discover His heart of Compassion. I understand why now! At that time, everyone was wearing wristbands with WWJD, which I thought stood for ‘Who Was Jason Donovan?’ but actually meant ‘What Would Jesus Do?’  In that moment, I thought of the lepers that Jesus touched when everyone else crossed the road and the dead body he touched and raised to life, and suddenly I felt ashamed of my wrong attitude and convicted of my judgmental response. As I lifted this man up who was just skin and bones, he said to me, ‘God must love me very much, He has even sent a man from another country to pray for me! At that moment, I was consumed with His Compassion.

Was I afraid? Oh yes, I still scrubbed my hands raw afterwards, but then I understood the lengths that God will go to break our hearts for the lost, the dying, the despised and the unlovely and where Jesus leads, as a leader, I need to move!

Micah, one of the prophets in the Bible put it this way ‘He has showed you O man what is Good and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God!’ You see, what God wants is for this to be a lifestyle, not just a random act of kindness. As you look at God’s instruction here, you can only really act justly if you are walking humbly! When you walk in humility, it means you leave pride behind and adopt an attitude of love and grace, recognising that I am not better, more worthy, more important, more valuable, or entitled than anyone else!!! Once you have that revelation, it will cause you to live a justice lifestyle! You will not be able to help getting angry about the way people are treated or marginalised because of their postcode, colour, circumstances or condition! Instead, it will cause you to reach out with mercy, grace and kindness!

Sometimes we get all these words mixed up. Justice/mercy/compassion/grace - Brad Jersak, in his book ‘Can you hear me?’ gives a helpful explanation, particularly of justice and mercy

‘Mercy is like the ambulance at the bottom of a cliff, ready to help those who fall. Justice builds a fence at the top of the cliff to protect them from falling in the first place

Mercy wipes the tears from their eyes. Justice asks, ‘Why are you crying?’

Mercy welcomes the hungry to gather around God’s banqueting table. Justice addresses why some are under the table aching of hunger while others are sitting on top of the table aching from gluttony.

Mercy seeks and saves those lost in the darkness. Justice asks, ‘Why is it dark? Who is keeping it dark? Who is benefiting from this darkness? Is it I, Lord?’

The fact that we have received justice, mercy and grace in our own lives should not just be something to celebrate but causes us to extend that acceptance to others.

As leaders, we are called to lead the way in demonstrating God’s heart of Compassion for humanity … with humility.

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Tim Robertson

Head of Strategic Partnerships - Compassion UK

Check out The Compassion Collective – YouVersion

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