A Word from Bob
You’re reading Part 3 of a blog mini-series on empathy.
You can read Part 1 here: Truth Without Empathy Is Sin. You can read Part 2 here: Rich Soul Empathy—Climbing in the Casket. Mini-Series Introduction
There’s been some controversy in evangelical Christian circles the past year about “empathy,” with some even saying “empathy is sinful.” For 36 years (since 1985), I’ve equipped God’s people for compassionate, empathetic one-another care. This issue has been important to me long before the current controversy. In this blog series, rather than giving you a negative critique of those who say, “empathy is sinful,” I’m providing a positive presentation of what the Bible says about one-another care. And, rather than “re-inventing the wheel,” I’m taking this series from the culmination of 36 years of thinking about this, as summarized in my equipping book, Gospel Conversations: How to Care Like Christ.
Slamming the Casket Shut: How Not to Empathize
If empathy is climbing in the casket, then slamming the casket shut pictures its opposite. We can learn how not to empathize from bad examples—such as Job’s “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2)
“Miserable” means troublesome, vexing, and sorrow-causing.
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
