Got Splanch?

Turning points.

If you’ve been alive very long, you’ve had a few. Maybe you’ve even participated in helping someone else experience a turning point. Perhaps you led them to the Lord, assisted them during a financial setback, launched them on a new career, prayed for their physical healing, or counseled them through a rough spot in their marriage.

Do you know where turning points often come from? From splanchnizomai. Really.

The Jericho Road traveler, who was beaten, robbed, and left half-dead, experienced (thankfully) a turning point. It didn’t come about through those who preached compassion. It didn’t come from those who administered the purse-strings of public charity. It didn’t come from a victim’s advocacy group or local law enforcement, as helpful as these all can be. It came from splanchnizomai, the Greek word for pity and compassion. Splanch, if I may.

Splanch is that gut-wrenching emotion, that pity so strong that it moves one to action. The Good Samaritan was so moved by splanch that he would have had a difficult time not responding. And what a Christ-like reaction! Jesus had an identical response to the leper who begged Him for healing (Mark 1:40-42), and to the crowds who milled about Him like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:33-38). He wove it into His parables – into the heart of the king who canceled his servant’s unpayable debt, and the father who welcomed the prodigal home. All had splanch.

The neat thing about splanch is that, as The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words points out, it often brings about a turning point in someone’s life. Think about it. The half-dead man, rescued. The leper, healed. The prodigal, welcomed with celebration. The servant’s debt cancelled. And Jesus’ response to the helpless crowds? He immediately gave His disciples authority to heal and drive out evil spirits, and sent them on their first “missionary journey.” The Dictionary notes, “The loving compassion of one person literally changed the life of another, for the person who cared was moved to act and so set the needy person on a new course in life.”

I’ve been the recipient of splanch, too. And I’m eternally grateful that somebody was moved to reach out to me in a way that set me on a new course in life. I’d love to be God’s channel for bringing turning points into the lives of others... but I think I’m a bit shallow in the compassion department. If I’m going to love my neighbor as myself, I need to allow God to make me like Jesus. To open my eyes to that neighbor. To break my heart for their condition. To send me into action that can, by His power, bring them to a turning point in their life.

How about you? Got splanch?