“But Namaan went away angry…he turned and went off in a rage.” (2 Kings 5:11-12)

Ethnic, racial, and cultural conflicts dominate the news. While we shouldn’t even have to say Black lives matter, I fully expect the phrase to spawn confrontation, pushback, even anger. With nationalism paramount, I fully expect countries to strengthen their borders against refugees. With ethnicity such a priority, were we surprised with the calls to check Obama’s birth certificate? When The Great British Baking Show recently aired their Mexican Week, intending to honor that culture’s cuisine, how did they not anticipate the backlash when their co-hosts wore sarapes and huge sombreros and made a joke using the name Juan? 

Where have tolerance and compassion gone? Why is antagonism the go-to response? 

While we may think this mindset is new, it’s not. National or cultural identity has always been the justification for all sorts of battles against others. We have no modern corner on superiority or disdain. What we need is a corner on counter-cultural compassion for others not in our educational, social, ethnic, or racial realms. Cue the enslaved girl in 2 Kings 5. 

Forcefully removed from her family, home, and nation into a foreign culture, she has every right to be resentful. Why should she care about her mistress’s husband, the highly-regarded commander of the Syrian army? After all, she’s been captured and enslaved. After all, Namaan has leprosy; she could rightfully feel in danger of contamination or even feel he deserves the disease. No one would blame her. But she does care. She pleads with her mistress: “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria” (v.3). When Namaan heads for healing in Israel, the king is immediately suspicious and antagonistic - a conditioned, cultural, kingly response. But the prophet Elisha shows counter-cultural compassion for this diseased foreigner: “have him come to me” (v.8). 

Such unexpected, against-the-grain kindness should characterize the people of God, but it can carry risks. Notice Naaman’s anger when Elisha sends a servant to meet him (don’t you know who I am??; vs.10-11) and then his condescension: “aren’t the rivers [of my country] better than any in Israel?” (v.12). His disdain even “turns into rage” (v.12), potentially putting Elisha in danger. It will take Naaman’s own servants themselves acting in counter-cultural compassion to get Namaan to stop being a superior-minded jerk and just get healed already! 

Glimmers of against-cultural-norms compassion shine throughout history. The Nazi Oskar Schindler rescued Jews during the Holocaust. Communities in the Triangle welcomed Afghanistan refugees. Countries surrounding Ukraine opened not just their borders but also their educational and welfare systems to refugees. As Jesus followers, we should prioritize compassion, especially when it’s the unexpected response and even if it might be risky. Think of a time when you acted in kindness deliberately against cultural or racial expectations; how was it received? If you’re struggling thinking of an example, what could you do this very week to be counter-culturally compassionate for someone’s good?