COMPASSION DEFICIT

When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, it carried an inadequate supply of lifeboats. If filled to capacity, still half the people would drown in the icy waters of the Atlantic. A tragedy.

Yet a greater tragedy occurred. In the panic and darkness of the night, many of the lifeboats were launched hastily, only partially filled. Others could have been saved.

Yet a greater tragedy still lay ahead. While the lifeboats floated in the water, people in the ocean cried out for help. Those in the lifeboats heard the cries, but they chose to do nothing. To save others risked capsizing their boat. They opted to save themselves and let the others perish. At last, the cries for help died in the icy waters as people drowned or froze within reach of help.

What doomed the people that night was not a deficit of help but a deficit of compassion. Will God say the same of us?

Friends don’t let friends go to hell. It’s not about condemning people or aggravating them. It’s about loving them enough to invite them to know Jesus and to walk with him.

Let it not be said of you or me—of us—that we had a compassion deficit… Bob