Recently, I read a Bonhoeffer quote in which he pointed out the fact that Jesus did not try to convert the two thieves crucified on either side of him–Jesus waited for the thieves to turn to him (and one did). This observation has prompted me to consider how much of my own thinking in regard to others has been focused upon thoughts of conversion; and I’ve concluded that I probably should not spend much time focused on shifting others’ thinking and doing, especially if I haven’t really thought first about their inherent value. The importance of a “real,” personal connection and genuine compassion should never be underestimated, especially since Christ Himself clearly modeled both in his interactions with others.
Yes, Jesus was a most compassionate connector. We can see this in his interaction with the short-in-stature tax collector for whom thievery was a way of life; Jesus simply asked to go home with him, and his doing so resulted in the thief becoming a truly generous, wholly changed man. We can see this too in Jesus’ interaction with the “foreign” woman of many husbands, and one current live-in lover, whom Jesus met at the well; he asked her for water, he spoke at length with her, he showed her that he knew the particulars of her love life, and then he introduced her to grace–to himself as the Messiah. And we can see this in Jesus’ interaction with a group of ten pathetic lepers, all of whom he chose to heal; only one of the lepers chose to return to Jesus to thank him (and we have to believe Jesus foreknew only one leper would return), yet he still chose to have mercy and compassion enough to heal the lot of them.
No, our kindness and our compassion, our connecting with others, cannot be contingent upon their conversion to our way, to the Way. Though I’ve become convinced of Christ, I’ll never be able, solely in my human strength, to convince others; that’s the work of God. Since reading the Bonhoeffer quote, I’ve been thinking too about how when the other thief who was crucified beside Jesus insulted him, Jesus’ response was a non-response. How many times do we his “converts” choose to not respond when people come at us hurtfully? Most of us lash out at them–we choose to show our humanity; and in doing so we choose to try yet again to do the work of God. He says he will right every wrong and he will call all who are indeed his. Our work is to get closer and closer to him, to be conformed to his divine image, so much so that when others are in our presence they will begin to wonder if it’s not all too good to be true after all, if God is as big and as real as all of history has and continues to reveal him to be.
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