So Moved
Kinetic discipleship in an overwhelming world
During the recent winter storm that crippled much of my home state of Tennessee, many of us found ourselves stuck inside. While thankful for those who braved the elements to continue essential services, the most many could do was to stay inside and avoid unnecessary travel.
Large numbers of folks to the east of us faced truly dangerous conditions without power and heat for days, but folks in my immediate area were challenged by the far-less-severe-but-no-less-real reality of the claustrophobia that comes from staying home for days on end. Kids off from school and pets kept inside had extra energy to burn. Adults sought to balance safety and fun while juggling childcare, checking on elderly relatives, and seeking to maintain some sense of normalcy.
We are not designed to be stationary. Not all of us are active or athletes, but we all need a degree of movement in our days. Movement is essential for physical health, but moving is also a vital part of our spiritual lives. We cannot afford to stay stuck in a numb apathy toward the world. A bland neutrality and a lukewarm zeal are lethal when it comes to living a faithful life. As believers, we open our eyes and allow the needs we see around in our world to stir our hearts and move our lives to action.
When we see injustice in the world, we should be moved by a righteous anger. Such anger is not released through violence or profane speech, but instead provides fuel for positive action. As we mature, we seek to balance our anger so that it is not constant agitation, but a source of strength focused for good.
In Mark 3 as Jesus prepares to heal a man of a physical disability, we see the Lord’s anger toward the religious leaders who sought to use the man’s condition as a spiritual test case. Jesus saw clearly that their goal was not faithfulness to God’s word, but a desire to trap Him in the technicalities of the religious law.
Jesus was angry because they sought to use a person’s hurt as a backdrop for their schemes. Sadly, this type of self-righteous grandstanding is still on full display in our world. Public officials, commentators, and activists of every stripe can be guilty of further exploiting hurting people to score points with their respective bases. This type of cruelty is even more heinous because it continues and exacerbates harm and does so under a veneer of moral language.
When we see the name of God used to shield injustice or the word of God twisted into cover for immoral behavior, we should be angered. Even so, we must avoid the temptation to let such anger turn to bitterness and instead use it as motivation to stand up for what is right.
As we look around us at the troubles of the world, we must also allow ourselves to be moved by grief. We cannot disconnect ourselves emotionally from the hurts and longings of the people around us. It is easier to check out of traumatic situations and to phone in a generic response to personal suffering, but if we are seeking to follow Christ, we must go among and come alongside the most broken of people.
In John 11, Jesus arrives on the scene at the death of Lazarus, and seeing the grief of the family and neighbors, is moved with grief over this loss. John 11:35, the shortest verse in our English Bibles, simply reads, “Jesus wept.”
Jesus is experiencing His own grief, but He is also grieved that grief exists at all. In a world of brokenness, grief and loss are ever-present, and yet each hurt is unique and profoundly personal. Jesus, who had power over death and is about to demonstrate that power through miracle, was still moved upon seeing the sorrow of those He loved.
In a world that often moves on too quickly from the discomfort of grief, we as believers are called to enter into the grief of others. We cannot physically raise the dead or heal the sick with a word, but we can choose to refuse to turn away from the world’s darkness and struggles. We respond to the hurts of others as we move toward the suffering of people and embrace Scripture’s call to weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15).
If we hope to imitate Jesus, we must live lives that are moved by compassion. When Jesus saw the multitudes that came seeking Him, He was “moved with compassion” for them because they were weary, listless, and lost (Mt 9:36).
To have compassion means to enter into another person’s suffering and to be bonded to them through that experience. As we live the Christian life, we are called to be constantly moving toward the ignorant, the lost, the listless, and the hurting. We move toward them because we seek to help share their burdens and to point to the One who can take all our burdens upon Himself.
To feel the needs of others and to identify with those needs is to allow ourselves to take on more fully the mind of Christ. Jesus was not aloof, and we cannot hope to be imitators of Christ with hearts that are cold, sterile, and calculating. Cultivating a heart that is touched by the longings of people and active in drawing near to others is central to what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
We cannot live faithfully without a willingness to be moved. As we look to serve Christ, our hearts are moved by the same emotions that motivated His own ministry. When we are moved as Jesus was moved, we are open to more and more ways to serve Him.