If we do not develop a sense of empathy, the ability to experience the pain and joy of another, we will destroy ourselves;
Empathy for the African American male stopped by the police for the umpteenth time for no good reason;
Empathy for the gay man or woman humiliated and ostracized by their own faith community;
Empathy does not require agreement, but it does aim at understanding and appreciation of where the other is coming from.
Empathy seeks incarnation; as God, in Christ, showed empathy to us.
If we fail to show empathy and do nothing but despise and scapegoat the other we will keep killing each other.
Topic: church and race
Commentary, News, Posts
If We do not Develop Empathy
If we do not develop a sense of empathy, the ability to experience the pain and joy of another, we will destroy ourselves;
Empathy for the African American male stopped by the police for the umpteenth time for no good reason;
Empathy for the gay man or woman humiliated and ostracized by their own faith community;
Empathy for the traditional Christian who wonders if everything they were taught about sexual morality is going to be reversed;
Empathy for the immigrant child who has lived in the US all their lives but now lives with the shadow of deportation;
Empathy for the blue collar men and women who are frustrated and afraid because all they can find are minimum wage jobs with no benefits if they can find a job at all;
Empathy for the lonely and afraid, the fearful and angry, the confused and ignorant, the poor, the marginalized, the hated.
Empathy does not require agreement, but it does aim at understanding and appreciation of where the other is coming from.
Empathy seeks incarnation; as God, in Christ, showed empathy to us.
If we fail to show empathy and do nothing but despise and scapegoat the other we will keep killing each other.
Topic: church and race
Greg Asimakoupoulos
CONTINUE READING
Explore More Stories & News
The Priesthood of All Believers
From Pentecost to the present, the whole church — ordained and lay alike — carries the mission forward.
Celebrating Fifty Years of the Ordination of Women
A personal account of calling, belonging, and what it means to keep saying yes to Jesus.
A Story of God’s Pursuing Love: Nicki’s Journey at Rock Harbor
After a devastating job loss, Nicki Andersen made God a promise: she’d read the Bible from cover to cover. What followed was a conversion, a baptism, and a community at Rock Harbor Church that would expand to embrace her granddaughter too, in the midst of her most difficult moments.
The Joy of Choosing Broccoli
Intellectual agreement isn’t the same as living it out. Through honest stories of allyship and real advocacy in ministry, Jessica explores what women and men must do to build teams where everyone truly flourishes and grows stronger together.
Jochebed: Lessons My Mother Taught Me
Julie Bromley traces a line from Moses’s mother, Jochebed, whose very name carried the glory of God, to her own mother, a Sunday school teacher and lifelong Bible student who taught her to ask hard questions and know who she belongs to.
The Kitchen Where Work Is Prayer
How Covenant pastor and church planter Alex Song went from addiction and a Korean monastery to opening a community kitchen in Windsor, Ontario, where they feed neighbors, train teenagers, and create spaces of belonging.