Outrage Can Be Easy. Today, Compassion Requires Strength.

 

When Did We Stop Feeling?

When did injustice stop shocking us—and start exhausting us?

When did human suffering become something we scroll past instead of something we stop for?

When did being correct begin to matter more than being compassionate?

If these questions feel uncomfortable, that’s a sign of life. Discomfort means something in us still cares.

Here is the truth we avoid: we did not suddenly become cruel. We became numb.

We are surrounded by stories of pain—loss, injustice, violence, division—every day. At first, it moved us. Then it overwhelmed us. Eventually, it trained us. We learned how to watch suffering without feeling it. We learned how to discuss pain without carrying it. We learned how to protect ourselves by staying detached.

Pain became background noise.

This is not strength. It is erosion.

A numb culture does not fight injustice. It manages it. It organizes it. It debates it. It schedules it. And then it moves on.

This is the cultural shift we are living through. Not a loss of information, but a loss of care.

Scripture warned us this would happen:

“Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12)

Cold does not mean hateful. Cold means distant. Unmoved. Disconnected.

We still talk about love. We just keep it theoretical. We still speak about justice. We just prefer it clean, controlled, and convenient. We are comfortable expressing opinions, but uncomfortable offering ourselves.

Jesus was never comfortable with comfort.

He stopped when others hurried.
He noticed when others avoided.
He touched what others feared.

He did not analyze suffering from a distance. He entered it.

That is the contrast we must face.

Somewhere along the way, faith became something we discuss instead of something we live. We learned the language of belief, but lost the courage of obedience. We call silence wisdom. We call passivity peace. We call comfort discernment.

The Bible does not.

“If anyone knows the good they ought to do and does not do it, it is sin.” (James 4:17)

That verse is not about evil acts. It is about withheld love.

Ask yourself honestly:

• When did injustice stop breaking your heart and start draining your energy?

• When did following Christ become safe?

• When did loving your neighbor become optional?

A culture does not fall when bad things happen. Bad things have always happened. A culture falls when people stop responding with courage, compassion, and responsibility.

Christ is not asking us to be louder. He is asking us to be awake.

Awake to suffering.
Awake to responsibility.
Awake to the cost of love.

Because numb hearts do not heal the world.

Awakened hearts do.

And awakening is never comfortable—but it is always necessary.