“Rejoice with those who
rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” Romans 12:15 NKJV
From my vantage point
on the east coast (NJ), the unity of the church appears to be waning. People have become much too self-centered
& self-absorbed. It has infected the
church on the whole as well. We may
support one another in the wake of a crisis, but once the dust settles we go
back into our self-made caves and place our focus back on our own
problems.
There
is a marked difference between sympathy and empathy. Sympathy, simply put, means you pity or feel
sorry for someone. Empathy, on the other
hand, means you have the ability to
identify or understand another’s situation or feelings. Folks don’t want our pity; they want someone
who understands what they’re going through. The empathizer has either gone
through the same thing or can imagine
what it would be like to go through such a difficulty. A church can rally around a fellow believer
with a spirit of empathy and can truly lift the suffering member out of their malaise
and place them on a plateau of comfort and peace.
Rejoicing
with those who rejoice is easy. We all
like to share is someone’s happiness. It
is when people weep and have great difficulties that we become uncomfortable. Have we lost the ability to empathize? We must pray for the Lord to enable us to get
it back, because it promotes unity within the church and brings about healing
to the individual that is hurting.
As a
side note, there are few things as liberating as weeping. It has a cleansing effect that comforts us
when we are done. A good hard cry frees
us up to begin living again. Until
Christ’s Return, walk with the King and be a blessing!
Resource:
The Reformation Study Bible; The Asbury Bible Commentary & The
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
