Sympathy and Empathy; Guiding Christian Helpfulness

Verses such as "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you" -Mathew 7:12 and "Love your neighbor as yourself" Mark 12:30 clear demonstrate a christians call to love and serve the world around them. Our call as Christians reflects the traditional Ojibwe practice of Bizimdam"to listen." Unlike the western understanding of this word, Bizimdam starts deeply inward and from there extends to the rest of the world. The principle here is rather obvious however many people zoom by this simple truth like freeways cut through the mystic glory of the smokey mountains; you cannot listen to others if you do not listen to yourself.

Empathy is a hot topic in the field of counseling, social services, and psychology. The premise is basically the ability to feel what others are feeling in a given situation. At weddings we may feel an awkward blend of stress and bliss, a sad movie ending envokes many tears, and hearing a passionate speaker exclaim his destain for injustice may move us to feel the same righteuous indignaton he's furious with. Our lease to others emotions have now become a rent-to-own.

Symphony on the other hand recognizes the feelings of others without aquiring ownership. During an afternoon bus route a very enthusiastic kindergartener sat on the very edge of his seat.  Sitting still was a task he had to aquire; his curiosity compelled him to hop between the aisle and window. Going over a bump, the catapulted from his throne and with a scratch and thud his knee hit the floor. The panic overtook his 5 year old mind, instantly the fright of his experience brought him to tears. Having observed the situation I quickly assessed the injury was only 5% pain and 95% panic. Though I was warm and could sympathize his pain and worry I remained calm and used a soothing voice and comforting words to assure him his injury was not fatal.

To often Christians feel the pressure to own everyone else's baggage. Don't get me wrong we do need empathy but it's important to know how to balance both empathy and sympathy. The challenge is discovering how to rent, not own, others emotions and experiences but still remain faithful, responsible, and caring tenants.

Jesus wants us to practice Bizimdam

.  In both verses prior we should love others as we love ourselves. The falecy many Christians buy into suggests self-sacrifice is a high-end form of humility, I'd argue it's an uglier form of pride. Yes, Jesus came to serve but he didn't put himself lower than others, getting down to ground level was to help others in moving to the top floor.

So what's our response to using sympathy and empathy as followers of Jesus? It's ironically simple and complex; pour your heart out to others without letting your tank run empty.