Brandt Jean sat in the witness seat slowly loosening an uncomfortable tie. His words were obvious to him. They were being carefully delivered. With each word, he crafted an understanding that would change everyone’s view of the murder trial. His tempo did not falter, his point did not miss its mark. He had confidence. He slowly shined a light on a dimly lit picture of hope and forgiveness that is rarely noticed in society. Mr. Jean asked the judge to hug his brothers killer. It took everyone by surprise. Every post about his action left comments with confused gifs and over-exaggerated meme’s. Even some Christians online didn't know how to respond. A mixed crowd lingered between amen and well. As if considering the idea that Mr. Jean’s actions were unnecessary.
No matter where you fall on the story one thing is for sure. Everyone needs compassion. Mr. Jean’s actions showed something that is sorely missing in our judicial system and reasoning system in America. We have great courthouses. We have amazing attorneys. We have the best jails. We have great laws. But what our world needs more than anything else is compassion. The very sight of Brandt Jean hugging the person who killed his brother is so foreign that no one in the comments section could even describe it as compassion. They saw weakness, race-baiting, commercializing, or even some twisted version of a slave mentality. Sadly this is something that is common in our society. Race matters more than anything else.
I don’t think it should be that way. However, that is the world we are living in. Over 30 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that a man would be judged by the content of his heart and not the color of his skin. I think everyone from hilltops of Tennessee to the mountains of Isreal will agree that they want that kind of world however we seem to be taking steps forward and back if you look at the new media. I feel like there a few reasons why we are still dealing with race issues in America. Slavery was outlawed over 100 years ago but we are still looking at race issues through the glasses of old sins. How do we change all the issues that keep coming up? I have one idea.
Compassion. It might sound lame but this one is really important. Jesus was looking at a rich young ruler. The rich young ruler asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life. Jesus answered him with the basic rules from the Jewish law. “Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.” Then the rich young ruler answered that he did all that and he wondered what else could be done. The next thing says Jesus looked on him and had compassion. Then Jesus said to sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and follow me. Ok, hear me out. That doesn’t sound like compassion.
When Jesus had compassion on the rich young ruler Jesus asked him for something that would be impossible for him to do alone. So the point of compassion is not the easy path. Too many people want compassion to be easy but if you are going to do it correctly it won’t be easy. Compassion is essentially the road less traveled. We will need community, friends, family and everyone else to help us in order to have true compassion. When compassion only requires basic laws and morals to be completed then it is no longer compassion. Compassion is an extreme action focused on a simple desire to love others in need. I believe every person that does wrong should pay for their actions but if we don’t learn how to show compassion for people that are wrong we will miss the point of being alive.
You may not see a reason to have compassion but Jesus did. Jesus looked at a crowd of people that had followed him all day, listening to him preach, and the Bible said Jesus felt compassion. I know you might find it hard to see lots of people and care about them. I know you find it hard to see someone that looks bad and wonder how you can help them. This is what Jesus did. He was focused on the need of a person and not just the look of the person. Even evil people need healing. Even people that do the wrong thing still need love, acceptance, and patience. That's what compassion does. It takes us from looking at the failure of people to seeing the need of people.
It’s possible that the people that have failures have been failed by others in being shown compassion. It’s possible that the people that commit evil are the ones that no one is willing to show good to. One thing that shows in all of society is ignoring people, ignoring problems, and ignoring situations will lead us away from compassion. Loving people where they are, even if they are wrong, will lead us to a path of compassion. Obviously you can’t fully trust someone who has shown they will abuse that trust but we can still show love and forgiveness in any situation.
Here is what i know. I didn’t think of compassion until i was shown it. I didn’t consider love until I didn’t deserve it and God still showed me His love. I didn’t understand grace until God showed it in my life. I didn’t understand peace until someone had peace with me. If we are going to move forward in this world toward better race relationships we must start with being the example instead of just going with how we feel. You might say that black people are already being forgiving enough or white people are already mostly not raciest. Even if this is true stories in the news still show a dividing line that won’t budge in how people are treated based on the color of their skin. The world will never be perfect but at least it can be a little more understanding in a world full of compassion.
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