Empathy, compassion, and the real sin to avoid

Over the last few years, some professing Christians have warned of the danger of the “sin” of empathy. Which sounds silly, at a first blush. After all, how can empathy—understanding the feelings of others, or emotional compassion—be sinful?

Well, if I’m hearing them correctly, it seems their argument is that empathy is being used by social and political progressives to pressure Christians—specifically socially and politically conservative evangelicals—to abandon their convictions and affirm what we cannot in good conscience in the name of kindness.

Which, if you’re of a more jaded and/or exhausted sort, sounds like culture war posturing. And it is. But also, there’s something else here. Hang with me for a second because there’s something more here worth discussing.

Two sources of pressure

Confessionally orthodox Christians do feel varying degrees of pressure to conform to different socially accepted views that we cannot. We can’t go where we can’t go on views of marriage, gender, and so many issues, not because of any kind of bigotry or phobia, but because our consciences are constrained by the Word of God. Because we think people are more than the identities they create for themselves.

And I do know some people who find it easier to just go along to get along. Why? Because avoiding conflict is easier.

But for many more people, it hasn’t been pressure from progressives—the schismatic left—that has caused them to change their views, or, in some cases, caused them to walk away from Christianity altogether. It’s been the schismatic right, who also break from confessional orthodoxy on views of marriage, gender, ethnicity, and so many other issues.

The schismatic right also diminishes the value of people made in God’s image. These people treat and talk about women as secondary—as less—because they are not men. They uphold power and wealth as virtues. They give cover for predators, show little concern for the vulnerable, mock and belittle their ideological opponents, advocate for ethnic “purity,” and promote the heresy of so-called Christian Nationalism. Through their twisting of Scripture, they cause others to say, “If this is what Christianity is, I’m out.”

The real sin to avoid

So what does all this have to do with empathy? Well, kind of everything. Many of those who warn against the so-called sin of empathy would align more with the schismatic right: the Dale Partridges, Joel Webbons, Mark Driscolls, Joe Rigneys, William Wolfes, and Doug Wilsons of the world. People who aren’t qualified to run a bake sale let alone be entrusted with the right handling of God’s Word.

Because of that, it’s tempting to cast aside any kind of warning about any danger, or even sin, related to empathy. But there is a danger—a sin—that we can commit when it comes to empathy, one the Bible itself warns of: Inaction. Apathy. Disillusionment.

To see wrong done and do nothing, and hear lies and remain silent. To see a need and fail to meet it.

Jesus is our example in this. Time and again, the Gospels say he was “moved with compassion” for those around him (Matthew 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 18:27; 20:34; Mark 1:41; Mark 6:34; Luke 7:13). He saw the people around him, those who were like sheep without a shepherd, and he felt compassion. He loved them and was motivated to act, feeding, healing, and welcoming them as his friends. And Jesus expects the same of those who he calls his own (Matthew 28:20).

To “go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

The hard work of compassion

Empathy is not virtue signaling or performative behavior. Far from it. Virtue signaling is self-serving—it is only concerned with ensuring that we look “good” before the “right” people. It gives cheap grace to the people on our team, and condemns everyone who fails to toe the line. But to have compassion—to put empathy into action—is to consider others before ourselves (Philippians 2:3–4). It is to love them as we love ourselves. It is to put our faith to work in such a way that our walk matches our talk, if you’ll forgive the preacher cliché.

Those who feel a pressure to walk away from Christianity’s historic teaching need the same thing the whole world needs from us who refuse to move—the same thing we need. We need to keep declaring the good news of Jesus in both word and deed. We need to continue to speak truth and live in light of the truth. To see the way Jesus was “moved with compassion,” and to act.

Friends, let us go and do likewise.

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