Empathy
Empathy is defined as the capacity for understanding, being aware of, being sensitive of, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another.
Christ
in His tenderness towards His children empathizes and sympathizes with them,
for indeed, we are His own body that He “nourishes and cherishes.” His sympathy
is such that “in our pain, Jesus is pained; in our suffering, he feels the
suffering as his own” (Ortlund, Dane. Gentle and Lowly). In fact, He co-suffers with us (Acts
9:4). Christ’s own testimony is that He is gentle and lowly (Matt. 11:29). He
is “Tender. Open. Welcoming. Accommodating. Understanding. Willing” (Ortlund, Dane. Gentle and
Lowly).
We
are to imitate Christ in our treatment of our brothers and sisters in Christ,
who are members of His body (1 Cor. 11:1; 12:18-20). We must be most tender with those who are
weakest—spiritually, physically, mentally. We must strive to show solidarity
with them; to be understanding of their infirmities whatever they may be (Rom.
15:1); to place ourselves in their shoes and feel what they feel.
“That spirit of mercy that was in Christ should move his servants to be content to abase themselves for the good of the meanest…Christ chose those to preach mercy who had felt most mercy, as Peter and Paul, that they might be examples of what they taught. Paul became all things to all men (1 Cor. 9:22), stooping unto them for their good. Christ came down from heaven and emptied himself of majesty in tender love to souls. Shall we not come down from our high conceits to do any poor soul good? Shall man be proud after God has been humble?” (Richard Sibbes)
John
Owen says of Christ, “He is able, with all meekness, with all gentleness, with
patience and moderation, to bear with the infirmities, sins, and provocations of
his people.” Isn’t this how we should be as well?
On
the other hand, we who are weaker must be careful to not judge the motives of
others (1 Cor. 4:5), to not judge another’s freedom (Rom. 14:1-2), or be bitter
if truly wronged (Eph. 4:30). Those who wrong
us are also in need of Christ’s tender mercy to cause them to be more like
Himself.
We
are all pilgrims on this journey. When
Hopeful and Christian sat in Doubting Castle and Christian was considering
taking Giant Despair’s advice and ending his life, one of the ways Hopeful
encouraged him was to say, “Thou seest that I am in the dungeon with thee, a
far weaker man by nature than thou art.
Also this giant hath wounded me as well as thee, and hath also cut off
the bread and water from my mouth, and with thee I mourn without the
light. But let us exercise a little more
patience” (Pilgrim’s Progress). Hopeful was with him in the dungeon—this is a
picture of empathy and solidarity: to be willing to draw near our brethren and
not tear them down while they are struggling, but to gently walk alongside
them, showing tenderness for their frailties.
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