Capt.G.M. Gilbert, prosecutor at the Nuremburg Trials, noted that the one characteristic that united all the Nazi defendants was a lack of empathy. “Evil is the absence of empathy,” he said. 

Empathy is the inherent human capacity to understand and share what it feels like to be human, in whatever situation. It’s so much a human quality that the lack of it relegates one to the realm of dysfunction; narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy, or simply monstrosity. 

     And yet, empathy is increasingly viewed by some as a weakness, especially among those on the right politically. Some who use the title “Christian” have said that empathy makes one vulnerable to manipulation and becoming a doormat.  They reject the Gospel teaching of forgiveness and redemption, and living freely as citizens of God’s Kingdom, and embrace The Law, emphasizing justice and obedience. 

     But this way of thinking misses the fact that the Law, God’s commandments and demands, exists to drive us to the Gospel of forgiveness and newness of  life. Neglecting the Gospel, as some have done, even in the face of the preaching of their church leaders, leaves them in the hopeless situation of living in perfection. In fact, no one can live up to the expectations of the Law. 

     J.D.Vance has been outspoken in opposition to empathy, drawing concentric circles around himself and saying that it’s only necessary to care for those inside the smaller circle and less and less for those in the outer rings.  Here he draws on what he called an “old school” Catholic doctrine called Ordo Amoris (order of love). His initial statement and subsequent comments have sparked debate among religious thinkers and theologians about the place of empathy in the church today.  So it seems necessary to look at what the scriptures teach us about the subject. 

     First, look at John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept”. When Jesus saw that Lazarus had died and saw his friends and family crying and coming together in grief, he understood and went there himself. The prime example of empathy. 

     Then there are specific scriptural instructions, like Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn”, and Galatians 6:2, “Carry each others’ burdens”, actively help others who are struggling. Ephesians 4:32 urges us to be kind and compassionate to each other. There are many, many passages teaching us to be kind to strangers and foreigners, since our ancestors were strangers in a strange land at one time. 

     So the message seems clear that empathy and caring for others is the proper way, and it is correct to reject the pointed cruelty we see devolving from the misapplication of Christian teaching that seems prevalent in some churches. If we’re to draw circles around ourselves, let’s make them big.