Something to work on...

Two things that I realize I need to work on in my life came up the other day in one of my classes at Mars Hill Graduate School. The first came in the form of a quote that went like this...

"Is your comfort more important than someone else's pain?" - unknown

How easy it is for me to hear and not listen and to simply try to "Pastor" someone out of whatever it is they are going through. I think I am doing that for them, but it really is about me not being comfortable with sitting with someone in the midst of their pain. I want to be a man who knows how to empathize with others. Which leads me to the second area I need to work on. This time coming from a definition...

Empathy: “Ability to put oneself in another person’s place; to understand how someone perceived the world and how those perceptions affect the person’s feelings.”

I know I can guess what it would be like to be in someone else's shoes, but to actually seek understanding from that person as to what it is like for them and to allow myself to experience all of the pain is very uncomfortable.

I have come to realize that this practice of empathy is not only necessary, it is redemptive. It is the living out of the Gospel. It is a true expression of sacrificial love! Me sacrificing my comfort (which I love) for someone else's pain.