Then I'll ask this question: do you think the average unchurched person in America thinks of these characteristics when they hear the word "Christian"? Not so much.

Here's another question (you can try this one at home, or with your elders if you're feeling perky): on a scale of 1-100, how is your church doing at producing this kind of person? It's a funny thing how often we're aware of our attendance trends or how close to budget we're running, but we often have not worked much to assess the real target we're aiming at.

Sometimes we're not even clear that this is the goal. I was talking to a church leader from a European country recently, who commented on a difficult dynamic where he lives. It is expected that the state will pretty much care for all human needs—the alleviation of poverty, provision of care for the sick, needy, and elderly, and so on. There is little or no expectation that the church will be involved in such issues.

The result, of course, is that most people in that society do not believe that those in churches care about them, or are marked by compassion. In the Acts church, it was almost exactly the other way around; it was the compassion of the church that reached the world.

For only the church has the goal of presenting everyone "mature in Christ." Other entities can try to lessen suffering or care for needs, but these do not have the same power.

I heard a great talk not long ago by Harvard professor Michael Porter about "doing well at doing good." He had been part of a project bringing renewal to Newark, New Jersey. They did this, not by trying to meet needs through charity, but by identifying competitive advantages that could attract businesses and create a sustainable financial strategy. The advantage they discovered was that, because of population density, Newark actually had higher purchasing power per square acre than Beverly Hills.

And much good has been done. But it did raise the question in my mind: Is it a good goal to seek to replicate Beverly Hills all over the world? Shouldn't we aim a bit higher?

Which is part of the reason why the church must be in the compassion business. True compassion is about more than just alleviating suffering. Its final aim is a redeemed humanity and a flourishing earth—"to present everyone mature in Christ."

This was the work of Jesus himself: to heal the sick, feed the hungry, give sight to the blind, care for the poor; give righteousness to the scandalous and scandalize the self-righteous; give hope to the hopeless and love to the loveless.

And he's not done yet.