There we are. I’ve said it. Splanchnizomai! Something Jesus had in abundance. Something we could do with in abundance. What is it? It’s compassion. But as we shall see in a moment, it’s compassion with a twist. How did I get to be thinking about this, you may ask. Well a train of thought started as I remembered a trip that I made to Causeway Church in Northern Ireland about 6 years ago. I saw things there that literally changed my outlook on life, the gospel and church forever.
Causeway Church had grown rapidly over the years and the single most important thing that explained this growth was that they were moved and motivated by compassion for the town and area where they lived.
Let’s just define compassion before we go any further. There is a compassion that sees a need and decides to offer help. It’s a decision of the mind. “That’s a worthy cause, I’ll give to that”……. “Those people really need help, I’ll give a bit of my time or resources to chip in to help” This is compassion, but it is often limited by how busy or not we are, by our financial priorities or by our life priorities. You see a young homeless woman on the street and you’ll happily buy her a sandwich and a coffee – if you have the time to spare and so long as that £5 in your pocket wasn’t all you had until payday at the end of the week.
There is another kind of compassion which doesn’t come from a set of mental decisions. It comes from somewhere deeper inside. It’s the kind of compassion that means that even if you are in a hurry today, and you do only have £5 left, and it does have to last you for the next 6 days, you can’t walk by this homeless lady. You can’t say to yourself “sorry, not this time” and walk on. You have to stop. You must make time. That £5 is totally available.This kind of compassion emerges from somewhere deep inside of us. The Bible has a word for it. Yes, it’s that word. Splanchnizomai (pronounced splash-need-zum-eye). It literally means compassion that comes from the bowels. (Sorry about that). Remember that when we say that something came ‘from the bowels of the earth’ we mean from somewhere deep down in the earth. This word for compassion means compassion that comes from somewhere deep down inside of us – a deep yearning, something which can almost be felt. Something that stirs deep inside of us, and yes, if you were to locate it, it would be in that area where the bowels are – somewhere below the stomach. And, just as physical sensations in your physical bowels cannot be ignored – so this kind of compassion cannot be ignored when it starts to stir. Action is going to have to be taken!
Splanchnizomai is the kind of compassion Jesus had. Action was always the result. The Bible says He was moved by compassion. In Northern Ireland I saw a church that was moved by compassion. They were not interested in growing a larger church, they were interested only in following those deep stirrings of compassion for those around them, and the result was a church, a group of people, who were like Jesus to that area.
The result of that was that many people came to know Jesus because they were meeting Him face to face as they met believers who were full of Holy Spirit and moved by His compassion for not-yet-Christians.
And there’s the 🔑 key, right there. Being full of Holy Spirit gives us access to splanchnizomai….to compassion that springs from the deepest part of us, that motivates us, that causes us to move and act, that cannot be ignored. This compassion doesn’t need church programs and ministries (good as they may be) in order to thrive. It just needs encounters with other people. Jesus didn’t set up a ministry Prostitutes, a ministry to Tax collectors or a ministry to reach Roman officers. He just walked among people and took it from there. We can do exactly the same. It’s time for the Church to leave the building. [And that’s a whole other topic!].
Why don’t you pray this prayer…..”Jesus, please fill me again with Holy Spirit. Help me to see people as You see them. Help me to love them as You love them. Give me a compassion that I can’t ignore”.
Then see what God does.
PS. Last week I announced that I would be running a course at the beginning of September which will be some training in how to function in the supernatural (God’s natural). Causeway Church was where I first discovered that many people, although not interested in church, were interested in Jesus and that it was easy to give them a direct encounter with Him- out on the street even. I will be sharing what I learnt there, as well as how to prophesy, pray for healing with results and hear God’s voice. There will be more details next week. If you are interested you can email me now at williamskev2020@gmail.com
Church is out there 