Empathy

“the nation apparently continues to suffer from a lack of empathy, a deficit exemplified by, among other things, fresh waves of antisemitism …. a growing movement of evangelicals has a different take. To them, the nation suffers, not from a deficit of empathy, but an excess of it.” - C.Leaders

“…schadenfreude is a sin of the spirit, and freudenfreude is a fruit of the Spirit. Schadenfreude is rooted in envy, one of the darkest of the seven deadly sins.” - James Emery White

“Ask yourself: Is too much empathy really the problem you see in your church? In your pastor? In your life? We should all examine where we are and seek to accentuate what is right while repenting of what is wrong.” - Ken Brown

“Jesus did not always weep with those who wept…. When the crowds were rejoicing on Palm Sunday, Jesus wept (Luke 20:41), and when the women were mourning for Jesus on his way to the cross, he told them not to weep for him (23:28).” - Kevin DeYoung

“Can empathy ever be sinful? Well, yes, most certainly… . But I don’t think this is at all what people at the mega-church are complaining about or accusing the pastor(s) of doing.” - Roger Olson

“I have been trying to understand their differing responses to Covid and abortion. Many evangelicals are pro-life on abortion, not on Covid. Secularists generally are pro-life on Covid, not on abortion.” - C. Post