S3|E1: Is Empathy a Christian Virtue? – Reformed Faith and Family
Western culture today elevates empathy as the greatest virtue. Christian virtues such as compassion, mercy, longsuffering, faithfulness, and the like commanded in Scripture toward our neighbor pale in comparison, according to the experts.
As the cultural emphasis on spiritual health diminished, an obsession with mental health and emotional well-being emerged. In this therapeutic age, especially post-COVID-19, which left many grappling with loneliness, emapthy became the balm for a fractured and fragile society.
However, empathy did not rise in a vacuum. It fits neatly within a culture that values intersectionality, non-judgment, and emotional safety. In such a setting, empathy is prized because it promises to validate without correction or confrontation.
For Christians, we must always return to the foundational question: By what standard? Is this new cultural virtue of empathy biblically supported or is it a sad substitue for far more enduring virtues that reflect the nature of Christ?
The History of Empathy: From Aesthetic to Emotion
The term empathy found its way into the English language in the early 20th century derived from a German word that meant “in-feeling.” Originally, it was used in art theory, describing the act of projecting one’s own emotions into a work of art. It was essentially a way to enjoy beauty by emotionally identifying with it.
Over time, psychologists appropriated the term to refer to emotionally “feeling into” another person’s suffering. From art to psychology to social interaction, empathy has evolved into a core virtue of modern therapeutic culture. However, the term has become increasingly vague and subjective shifting in meaning depending on the user’s intent or worldview. (Psychology Today, Susan Lanzoni Ph.D.)
Empathy vs. Sympathy
Empathy is often misused as a synonym for sympathy, though many modern voices insist on a sharp distinction. Not only is empathy distinguished from sympathy—it is elevated above it.
A notable article from Psychiatric Medical Care describes the contrast like this:
When we relate with empathy, we give the other person space to own their emotions and feelings. We reflect on what they are feeling and provide a safe space for all emotions, even negative ones. When we relate with sympathy, we move into problem-solving mode. We have ideas and judgments about how the person feels and what they should do. This not only minimizes the person’s problems, but it ignores their feelings.
Sympathy comes from our ego. It is what we know we should do, and often, it is telling others what to do or feel as well. Empathy comes from the heart. It is feeling another’s pain and sharing a human experience. Everyone wants to be accepted and understood, and empathy fosters those feelings in the person sharing and the person listening.
In this framework, sympathy is often villainized as judgmental, invasive, and ego-driven. Empathy, on the other hand, is praised as nonjudgmental, affirming, and selfless. It’s no wonder many Christians assume empathy is a Christlike virtue.
The Sin of Empathy
Author Joe Rigney, in his provocative book The Sin of Empathy, raises concerns about empathy’s emotional excess. He offers an analogy: imagine someone stuck in quicksand. Empathy would compel you to jump in alongside them, sharing their panic but ultimately rendering both of you helpless. Sympathy, on the other hand, would allow you to stay on solid ground, close enough to care, but grounded enough to offer rescue.
Albert Mohler, in an interview with Rigney on Thinking in Public, echoed this concern. He described empathy as “abstract,” often detaching people from moral responsibility. According to Mohler, empathy doesn’t just respond to someone suffering in a pit; it responds to everyone who’s ever been hurt by the idea of pits. This kind of emotional abstraction, he argues, dilutes the moral clarity Christians are called to maintain.
When empathy requires full emotional immersion, it can obscure truth. You cannot challenge someone’s sin or call them to repentance while also fully identifying with their emotional state. True empathy, in this sense, demands neutrality—a suspension of judgment that often runs counter to biblical love, which is deeply invested in both truth and grace.
Empathy vs. Compassion
Rather than empathy, the Bible consistently points to compassion as the model for godly emotional engagement. God is repeatedly described as compassionate throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus, moved with compassion, heals the sick and feeds the hungry. Paul instructs believers to “put on compassion” as part of their new life in Christ.
Unlike empathy, which immerses itself in another’s emotions without judgment, compassion sees the suffering clearly and moves toward it, not just to feel but to help. Compassion engages reality. It recognizes real pain and responds with real action, grounded in the truth of who God is and what He commands.
Compassion also maintains a moral framework. While empathy, losing all objectivity, may affirm a person’s feelings no matter the source or context, compassion weighs those feelings against the standard of God’s Word. It does not affirm sin or suffering that results from rebellion. Instead, it enters into pain with the purpose of offering redemption, healing, and correction when warranted.
Empathy may leave people where they are; compassion calls them to something higher.
Is Empathy Biblical?
Some Christian leaders argue that Jesus exemplified empathy. He became human, suffered, and entered fully into our broken world. He wept at Lazarus’s tomb and was moved by the suffering of others. In that sense, Jesus was certainly not emotionally detached. He felt deeply and responded fully.
The apostle Paul also speaks of becoming “all things to all people” (1 Corinthians 9:19–23), which some interpret as a form of empathetic identification. But it’s important to recognize that neither Jesus nor Paul ever allowed emotional connection to blur the line of moral clarity. Jesus entered human suffering, but never sinned. Paul identified with others, but always with the aim of sharing the Gospel and calling them to repentance.
Considering empathy is modern with varying definitions depending upon the person employing it, it would be wise to tread carefully when trying to apply it backwards in history where neither the term nor the concept existed. The Bible does not use the word “empathy,” nor does it teach us to lose our moral footing in someone else’s feelings. Instead, God’s Word teaches us to love with both compassion and truth, always pointing others toward Christ.
Reclaiming Biblical Virtues
Words matter. And when a word like empathy carries multiple definitions, many of them shaped by secular psychology or cultural trends, Christians must speak with precision. If we use the word, we must be clear about what we mean and what we do not. In some cases, wisdom may lead us to set aside such a vague and elastic term altogether in favor of language that reflects the clear, unchanging truths of Scripture.
Empathy, as currently defined and practiced, is not inherently sinful, but it is not inherently biblical either. When empathy functions as emotional resonance anchored in truth and discernment, it can be useful. But when it demands moral neutrality or emotional conformity, it becomes dangerous.
Christians are not called to mirror the emotions of the world but to offer something better: the love of Christ grounded in truth, compassion fueled by action, and mercy that leads to healing, not just comfort. In a culture obsessed with validation, Christians, and therefore the Church, must recover the richness of biblical compassion never flinching from truth, which does not simply feel but redeems.
Empathy may appear to be the more loving path, but Scripture teaches that real love is never divorced from righteousness. Truth, mercy, and holiness must walk together.
Suggested Further Reading
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- The Sin of Empathy by Joe Rigney
- Thinking in Public, Interview with Dr. Albert Mohler and Joe Rigney
- Jesus Therapy Series by Remnant Church
- Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier
