Core Values: Love & Compassion

We have now finished our “Deeper Gospel” series.  Our new series will be reflections on six of our Core Values.  When Living Faith Church began we held a retreat to develop a set of core values which would both describe who we are and set an agenda for who we wanted to be. 

I want to begin with the core value that says, “We seek to reach out with love and compassion to those who are in need of care and justice.”

Most people have no problem enthusiastically agreeing with the first seventeen words of this statement.  Virtually every person responds emotionally to someone who is in need of care and wants to do their best to help.  Australians were very generous when people suffered so desperately on black Saturday.  It was as if people needed to help, almost more than people needed help.  Now people are responding with all kinds of care for people who have suffered the results of earthquakes.  People of Living Faith Church were very practical in their care during the fire disaster.  We constantly show our care when people are sick, lonely or in trouble, with visits, phone calls, email, cards, meals and flowers. This is a core value which is vitally important to us.

Unfortunately the last two words cause some of us to baulk. Some question the words, “and justice.” Maybe the questions of justice concern us because these issues touch on our politics.

Justice raises issues of fair play.  If someone does wrong then justice demands that there are consequences.  On the other hand when people are being treated unfair or victimised, the just society seek to establish laws to protect them and provide a safe environment in which they can live.  Justice touches on issues of crime and punishment, but also on refugees, aborigines, abortion, child abuse, sexual abuse, poverty, the treatment of women and the treatment of men, just to name a few.  Even pollution and global warming reflect on issues of justice for our children and our children’s children.

Jesus was right into issues of justice for sinners, the poor, the sick, outcasts, women, children and gentiles.  Yes, they were political issues then too, and the political leaders didn’t like him for it.  We must never let ourselves get conned by those who would rather not hear a Christian perspective saying that we should stay out of politics. Jesus was active on issues of justice.

Care and justice are responses to the love to which Jesus called us.  It is a love which reflect universal valuing. It both treats people equally and seeks to equalise them because that is the only fair response.  It is a love which through care wants to help people find health and happiness and through justice wants to offer equality and fairness to all.