Empathy Encouraged

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” (1Co 12:25-26 AV)

Empathy is supposed to be a vibrant part of the body of Christ.  Whether someone is suffering or rejoicing, the body of Christ should feel as they feel.  Because Paul instructs the church to do so, this suggests it is our choice to feel as others feel.  If we are not careful, we can become callous toward the situation of others.  Worse, envy will keep us from rejoicing with those who are honored.  The Prodigal son’s brother is a good example.  There is an element of social structure needed in the church and we are quickly losing it.  The Corinthian church was a carnal church.  This means they are more concerned with one’s own needs than they are with others.  They love for the day.  They love for self.  They live and worship with more concern with how church life affects Self than how others are doing.  If we are not careful, the fabric that keeps the church together will be lost.

The entire world culture is becoming more private, recluse, and unable to build deep and lasting relationships.  We live on our cell phones.  If we do not have it close by, we lose any ability to function.  We no longer make phone calls or even leave messages.  Our contact with each other is a sentence at a time.  We do not know our neighbors.  COVID taught us to hunker down and view everyone else as a potential threat.  Our world is going crazy and the church is not all that far behind.  Prayer lists are getting shorter and shorter. Prayer meetings last minutes and not hours.  There used to be a time when the church had a prayer chain.  When someone had an emergency need, the phones would ring and the church would get to praying.  Now, we have Facebook or other social media so we don’t have to have personal face-to-face contact.  I am blessed.  I pastor a church that loves to fellowship.  They will stay after church for an hour or more fellowshipping with one another.  They are a very social church.

The individual believer was not meant to be an island unto himself.  He or she is meant to be part of the whole.  Not an idle part. But an active and involved part.  The saint is meant to be a productive part of a living and breathing church.  Paul speaks to an immature church to choose to care and celebrate with one another.  He knows if they care for one another, they will avoid the massive problems they had.  If they cared and rejoiced with the situation of others, their own needs would be greatly diminished.