Sharing Compassion Shapes The Soul

by Eric Elkin

“Brothers and sisters, don’t get discouraged in doing what is right.”

— 2 Thessalonians 3:13

It was after midnight when Peggy walked in the door. I was sitting at the table, trying to get my homework done. She announced her co-workers had decided to strike for better wages. Now, she had to decide whether to join them or not. So we sat down to talk about what she should do.

During my time in seminary, Peggy worked in a group home for intellectually disabled adults. The job was both amazingly rewarding and incredibly challenging. Many nights she came home with bruises and bite marks. Care workers regularly clean all kinds of human fluid.

At the same time, there were so many beautiful moments. I'm not sure Peggy has ever had a job more emotionally rewarding. When your job is to show compassion and mercy continually, it cannot help but form your soul. Several times, residents would join us for dinner at our house. I know it taught our children compassion and mercy.

The reason for the strike was pay. The group home paid their employees on average, $3 an hour less than comparable group homes in the state. Many of her co-workers were single mothers who worked over 50 hours a week. Despite logging 10 hours of overtime, they still qualified for government assistance. Put in terms of our reading, they worked hard enough for their food; they just could afford to buy it.

Technically, it was "our" decision for her to go on strike. However, the only choice I made was whether I would support my wife or not. Even so, the real issue at stake was our soul. Would we do the right thing?

“The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it”

— Henri Nouwen

The strike became a topic of conversation on the seminary campus. Several of my classmates, all pursuing masters of divinity degrees, had no problem telling Peggy the immorality of her decision. To them, she was abandoning vulnerable people. No one considered the workers and the vulnerability of their families.

She never told me who talked to her, but I thought about it every time I was in class. People loved to pontificate about faith and the need for social justice. Often their words were directed at what others should do, but not themselves. As I listened to them talk, I often wondered if they had given the same lecture to Peggy.

Eventually, the strike was settled. In the big picture, the increase in wages mattered little to us, but they were life-giving to Peggy's co-workers. The raises stabilized the workforce and stopped the constant turnover of employees. The group home became a happier place for both the residents and the staff.

This reading from 2 Thessalonians is dangerous. Out of context, the reader can draw all kinds of unauthentic meanings from it. Some have used it to argue why pastors should not be paid. Others have used it as a platform to restrict welfare spending. They focus on the line, "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat."

The letter is sent to a community of believers. There are some in the community who are not working for the good of all. They spend their time laboring contempt between believers. As Mariam Kamell writes, "This [passage] is entirely concerned with those who should and can work but refuse and instead direct their energies to causing chaos in the community."

Paul is inviting you to make a decision. This is not a decision to accept Jesus or to be saved. God's grace and mercy are free. Instead, he invites you to make a decision about how you will live, in and out of the church. Your labor should be spent building up the body of Christ and not tearing it down. Paul wants you to do the right thing. He knows as I learned, when your job is to show compassion and mercy, it cannot help but form your soul.

Click to read 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-13