A Gut Level Life

The story of the feeding of the 4000 sounds a lot like the feeding of the 5000 including the disciples not really understanding where the food is going to come from. But, for me one of the more interesting parts of this story and others is the empathy Jesus felt for these people. Both Matthew and Mark tell us he was moved with compassion. This movement was gut level from within the deepest part of a man, his intestines. That is literally what is said. For the Greeks the head was the seat of the rational man; the gut the seat of the emotional man; and the heart was where the two were combined. I do believe the mind and the emotions are centered as a bridge between body and spirit and reside in the soul of man. The rational and the emotional when integrated can be very powerful, either for good or evil. When one has strong feelings and a sharp mind they can either be diabolical like Satan (Note in Rev.12 he was furious) or they can be compassionate like Jesus. Satan and Jesus represent the two extremes of this combination.

In studying this word I was struck by its use by Zachariah, John the Baptist's father, in Luke 1:78. "Because of the tender mercy of our God, from which the Sunrise from on high shall visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet in the way of peace." Wow! Is this a powerful picture or what? But notice what moves God to cause the Sunrise (Jesus and John's ministries) to lighten up our path in darkness and death, i.e. the tender mercy of our God. Literally this says God is moved in his gut to help us. We have a Father who is touched by our condition. He sees and feels. He is affected by what affects us. He cares. Since Jesus came to exegete God for us (John 1:18), we would expect to see Him being motivated by his gut too. And we do. In Matthew 9:36 his gut is moved for a crowd that are distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd. It moved him to feed the 5000 and the 4000. It moved Him to heal two blind men and to raise the widow of Nain's son. It is expressed in His story about the master who was moved to forgive His slave of a massive debt. (Even though this compassion was reversed when the slave would not do the same for his brother.)

A gut level life is one motivated by empathy. When you are no longer moved by the hurts of others you better do a gut check. What touches you? What moves you to action? What causes you to sacrifice and to champion causes marred by injustice and cruelty? Does maltreatment move you? Does poverty grab your intestines? Does mental illness hit you in the inner places? How do we teach this to our children? We model it. I am so glad I was able to send my children to Honduras. They needed to see something that was in stark contrast to the way we live here. I know my intestines have been trained in Haiti and in the numerous counseling sessions with those abused and harmed by the heartlessness of others. Compassion does not make us human. It makes us divine. How's your gut?