I’m going to argue that there is a Greatest Virtue. It is the virtue that sits at the foundation of moral practice. It is the root of goodness and, as such, should be the constant focus of all church communities.
Richard Beck
The Greatest Virtue is empathy.
…empathy creates the moral fabric of our lives. All our hopes, dreams and desires are communally held together by the fact that we can identify with each other. We loathe immoral behavior because we can empathize with the victims. And this empathic connection binds us all together and, thus, begins the collective moral journey. Wherever our system of ethics begins it must surely begin with this simple question:
Adam Smith
If I were in that person’s shoes how would I feel about that?
I tell you all that to say that something has happened in our culture that troubles me greatly…a lack of empathy for anyone outside of our new tribal identities.
Phoenix Preacher
A lack of empathy dehumanizes others and strips them of personhood.
The sickest aspect of this is that one must first sacrifice your own humanity before you can rob it from others.
Without empathy, people become problems to be solved, or worse, enemies to be defeated.
No society …or country…can survive long without a feeling of commonality and shared humanity among all people despite their differences.
Many in favor of defeating other people who differ, do so believing they act in service for the Lord.
Asserting empathy as the greatest virtue should create some consternation. When asked, “What is the greatest virtue?” most people, including myself, would answer LOVE. Encountering empathy, caused me to re-examine my position. Quotations above and numerous other references have influenced me to agree that the greatest virtue is empathy. However, agreement does not settle the issue. Preeminence of love as the greatest Christian virtue is not without good reason. After all, scripture says God is love. To address this conflict, it is necessary to begin with love. Love understood and expressed in our disenchanted, secularized culture has lost connection to love attributed to God. Differing views of love between Christian’s and culture are not surprising.What is surprising and troubling is, Christians differ on their views of love.
One of the greatest barriers to civil conversation between people with different worldviews is when they don’t stop to determine whether they have the same objectives in mind. Oftentimes, they think they’re on the same page— Love is one of the most common subjects where this happens today.
Christians strive to love others given God’s standards. The secular world strives to love others given self-defined standards.“Love is further complicated by divergent understanding of love … between secular society and Christians. Christians often disagree as well—some holding a view of love that looks much like that of secular culture.
https://natashacrain.com/why-secular-culture-progressive-christians-and-traditional-christians-disagree-on-what-it-means-to-love-others/
How can there be so much difference between Christians in our view of love?
Ironically, it’s because of the same reason that secular culture and traditional Christians disagree: We have a different view of God.
Reflection on empathy has challenged me to reexamine how I view of God. Although I say that empathy is the greatest virtue, when I honestly assess my heart’s response to those in distress or need, it is apparent my intuitive response is not empathy but judgement. Here are some reasons I use to rationalize not empathizing:
* By empathizing with someone, they or others, will believe I agree with them.
* Choices have consequences and people need to learn from the consequences of their choices.
* Some people simply deserve what they get.
* Some times tough love is necessary.
* Expressing unvarnished truth is for their own good.
Those responses reflect my heart’s view of God, defined by anger and wrath. Of course, Intellectually I would argue that is not my view of God, if asked, I would say:
“Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious,SLOW TO ANGER,abounding in HESED [steadfast love] and faithfulnesskeeping steadfast love for the thousandeth generationforgiving wickedness rebellion and sin“
“I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory,Because your HESED/steadfast/never ending love is better than life,my lips will glorify you”
” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.“
In understanding why I have “is” and “ought” views of God , I realize the profound influence my spiritual heritage has had on my view of God. For the most part, the image of God presented and preached was ” God of the ‘Old Testament’, angry and unloving, a God of wrath” —a view of God conveniently reinforcing works salvation theology and unchallenged by “the New Testament God” who came in the flesh. When an “Old Testament”view of God prevails, it is not hard to understand why empathy is absent. When we encounter a resistance to empathy personally or culturally, the first thing to examine is our view of God.
As I think about the wide variety of Christians’ witness in today’s culture, there is no unequivocal answer to, “Who is God?” As I examine the testimony of my life to the world and ask “Who is the God I am presenting? My view of God is a commodity. imagery that accommodates whatever cultural demands I face. An angry, unloving God of wrath is needed to support my judgement of and displeasure with opposing factions. A merciful and gracious view of God is reserved for those of a kindred spirit. (“They will know we are Christians by our love!“)
Stories and texts in the Bible, clearly reflect the unfathomable nature of God. By definition the creator is beyond the grasp of his creatures. Because of his creatures’ humanity, God revealed himself in a way that he can be understood.
“Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. … The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.
Hebrews1:1,3 NLT “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 1:3 NIV
“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
John 1:14 NLT
“Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.””
“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.”
John 14:8,10 NLT
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,”
“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,”
Colossians1:15,19 NLT
Fr Stephen Freeman’s description of how one can come to a view of God removed from Christ is insightful.
It is possible to use the entire Jesus story as a way of proving the existence of God, only to then proceed to think of God in terms that are somehow removed from Christ Himself. I’m not sure whether we imagine this “God” to be the “Father” or something else. These conversations (and thoughts) are often expressed in terms of, “I believe that God…” and on from there. I think of this as the God of the blackboard. Jesus is used in order to prove the blackboard but then we begin to fill in that large, blank wall with our own imaginings (or various passages of Scripture that we might use as a counterweight to the story of Jesus).
Christ is how we “read” God. We cannot get behind Christ to speak about God as though we knew anything of God apart from Christ. We do not know God “prior” to Christ. When Christ declares that He is the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” and that “no one comes to the Father except by Me,” He is not merely describing the path of salvation, He is making it clear that it is through Him alone that we know God. This is also affirmed in St. Matthew’s gospel:
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All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Matt. 11:27 NKJ)
The most compelling argument for empathy as the greatest virtue resides in the truth that through Christ alone we know God. God incarnate, became like us:
“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.”
Hebrews? 2:14-17 NLT??
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathizewith our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16 RSV??
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. REV
REV Commentary for: Hebrews 4:15
“empathize.” The Greek word translated “empathize” is sumpathe? (#4834); pronounced soom-pa-th). The translation is sometimes thought to be “sympathize,” following more closely to the spelling of the Greek, and “sympathize” can be a meaning in some contexts, but “empathize” is a more accurate translation in this verse. Empathy is when a person can understand and feel what another person is feeling. In contrast, sympathy is having compassion for the other person, but without necessarily feeling, or being able to feel or identify with, the other person’s feelings. “Sympathy” can be used in a much broader way than “empathy” because sympathy does not necessarily demand that a person be able to identify with the other person’s feelings, but only have a sense of what the person is going through. That is why, for example, we can sympathize with a cause that we support, such as helping the poor, but we cannot empathize with a cause.
Christians should take comfort in the fact that Jesus does more than “sympathize” with us, he can feel what we are feeling—the hurt, pain, discouragement, and also the joy, excitement, and love. No wonder we can pour out our heart to him when we pray; he is listening and understanding us.
https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/export/tmp_HY3NY99d96uI/REV_Commentary_Heb_ch4_v15.docx
To be Christ-like
—to have the mind of Christ
— To love others as Christ has loved us
— to love as God loves
— to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Is to be empathic.
Still on the Journey