We are living in an increasingly passive world. Passive in terms of human connection and emotion. Entangled in the virtual reality provided by our devices, our relationships tend to suffer. It’s easy to escape reality and portray a different version of yourself online. It’s easy to avoid genuine, meaningful relationships by prioritising your phone over the person in front of you. This is a stark contrast to the stories in the gospels. Christ and his disciples actively and intentionally connect with the people around them. I think of the film ‘The Passion of the Christ’, which depicts how Christ gave his life for us. The root word of passion means “to suffer”. The word compassion comes from Latin and means “to suffer with”. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.“ (Matthew 14:14). Compassion should move us to act. Jesus had compassion and then healed. He partook in their suffering, which led to action. Similarly, we are called to be active in our faith, not passive bystanders in this world, having compassion for others and acting in love, just like Jesus. Open Bible – http://bit.ly/Mat14v14 (Jeremy G)
