Authorized spiritual masters are compassionate Vaisnavas

[Bhakti Vikasa Swami]

Vaisnavas, or devotees, are usually very compassionate upon conditioned souls.
Without even being invited, a devotee will go from door to door to enlighten
people and to bring them out of the darkness of nescience by injecting
knowledge of the living entity's constitutional position as a servant of Lord
Krsna. Such devotees are empowered by the Lord to distribute devotional
consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, to the people in general. They are known
as authorized spiritual masters, and it is by their mercy that a conditioned
soul gets the seed of devotional service.

From
The Teachings of Lord Caitanya
by Srila Prabhupada