Latest / The Living Freed Podcast / Is empathy too woke?

Transcript

Is empathy too woke? · The Living Freed Podcast

0:20
Happy Thursday and welcome back to another episode
0:24
of the Living Freed Podcast. I'm so glad you're
0:28
here. Let's talk about what I've been up to.
0:31
So yes, yes, I have been fighting the cold. I
0:35
know y 'all know that. Actually, not even the
0:37
cold, the flu. And unfortunately, it's still
0:40
here. So let's jump into what's out. The freaking
0:44
flu, y 'all. This thing hangs around for weeks.
0:49
Literally weeks. Just when you think you're getting
0:52
better, your throat hurts again. or you're still
0:57
coughing or they're still snot thank god thank
0:59
you jesus so much heavenly father that i am past
1:03
the body aches and the headache but gosh i'm
1:06
tired of sounding like this and i'm tired of
1:09
my throat hurting i'm over it just ugh cannot
1:13
i really i don't do well being sick and i'm really
1:16
past it all right let's talk about what's in
1:19
let's talk about the good stuff well y 'all know
1:23
that my Supposed to be in our goals for 2026
1:28
was back at it with the 6 a .m. Wake up calls
1:30
and your girls doing it. We are many many many
1:34
days in I would have to look at the calendar
1:37
to know because I'm still not weird lol With
1:40
life where you don't you're not really sure what
1:42
day it is. All I know is that is Thursday So
1:44
yeah, still doing fantastic with the 6 a .m.
1:47
Wake up calls. We're loving it energized coffee
1:52
Gym, Bible time, all of the good things. Now,
1:57
I know we haven't talked in a while, because
1:58
again, I have had the flu, so I've been at MIA,
2:02
but I want to catch you up on what I've been
2:04
up to. I have booked my flight to see my best
2:08
friend at the end of the month, so Serena, I
2:11
am headed your way. She lives in Miami, which
2:15
is... or by Miami she would hate for me to say
2:18
she lives in Miami which is not one of my favorite
2:20
places to visit but I love her so I'm going and
2:25
it's been cold in Wilmington so your girl's ready
2:28
for some warmth and sunshine next me and some
2:33
girlfriends from church slash work slash roommate
2:37
slash life um went and did a day trip to Raleigh
2:40
because guess what opened up Anybody on the west
2:43
coast will understand this Dutch Bros Dutch Bros
2:47
opened up so we waited about a month We gave
2:50
it some time and then your girls Got in the car
2:53
after church on a Sunday and we drove our little
2:55
butts out there and we got ourselves some Dutch
2:57
Bros We tried to go twice in the day But the
3:00
line was so long and we wanted to stay in the
3:02
car because it was freezing and the guy was like
3:05
hey like you have to park and walk up like we're
3:07
not really letting people stay in the in the
3:09
car wait line and I was like that's crazy um
3:12
we'll just go home thank you so much but after
3:16
the first round of Dutch Bros we went out to
3:18
Chapel Hill and we got ourselves some raisin
3:20
canes because anyone who doesn't know North Carolina
3:24
only has two raisin canes one is in Chapel Hill
3:27
the other one is on a military base and I have
3:31
had some guide friends from the west coast that
3:33
moved to this military base offer to get me in
3:35
to get it But low key, I'd just be avoiding military
3:38
men in general. Even if we were friends in a
3:41
past life, past time, I don't really need that
3:44
anymore. And then we went from raising canes
3:48
to a bookstore that was also a coffee shop and
3:53
it was low key a vibe. I wish Wilmington had
3:56
one of those. straight up. Yeah, it was so cute.
4:00
And then we came home and we were home by like
4:02
seven. I went grocery shopping, meal prepped,
4:06
did all the things, super relaxed, and started
4:09
the week off on a really great note. And then
4:14
finally, I would say Bible study is back. We're
4:20
starting first Corinthians, y 'all. I'm so excited.
4:23
We have some new girls coming. That will be good.
4:26
But it's gonna be good. I'm really really pumped
4:28
last year when we ended on reading Romans I really
4:32
love just raw dog in the Bible So we're doing
4:35
it again with 1st Corinthians back at it with
4:38
Paul who I always have mixed feelings about But
4:41
anyways, alright, let's dive into this week's
4:45
episode I have become chronically online the
4:59
last few months. And yes, I'm embarrassed of
5:01
it. I used to be that person who never knew where
5:03
her phone was. No, seriously, I found it in the
5:06
fridge once after realizing I hadn't seen it
5:09
for hours. I never knew what the latest trends
5:12
were or honestly, low key, even what TikTok was
5:16
for a hot minute. But now I'm a girl who if her
5:19
phone isn't in her hand, then she has no idea
5:21
where it is. But best believe if I do know where
5:25
it is, it's in my hands and I'm scrolling TikTok
5:27
-er and stuff. The problem with social media,
5:30
at least for me, that I've noticed lately is
5:32
that we get so much information thrown at us
5:35
in a short time span, whether it's true or false.
5:38
I see the craziest stuff on there. And now with
5:41
AI, don't even get me started. Ugh, it is terrible
5:45
for the environment. Don't even get me started
5:47
on how much I hate that stuff. Anyways, we scroll
5:50
and scroll. and scroll and scroll some more.
5:55
One of the many times I was scrolling, I saw
5:57
a video of some guy saying that empathy is too
6:00
woke and not biblical. That stopped me in my
6:03
tracks. I always thought of myself as an empathetic
6:06
person. I can put myself in your shoes. I can
6:09
imagine what you're feeling. If you're crying,
6:12
I'm physically crying with you. But if that's
6:15
not from God, I don't want it and I don't want
6:17
to feed it. So Just like with many other things,
6:21
I started my journey with the question plaguing
6:23
me. Is empathy woke? Y 'all know I love a definition,
6:27
so of course I had to look up what the word empathy
6:29
meant. So in Webster's, it defines empathy as
6:33
the action of understanding, being aware of,
6:37
being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing
6:39
the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another.
6:43
After looking up empathy, I obviously had to
6:46
look up sympathy. which is defined as a feeling
6:50
or expression of sincere concern for another
6:53
who is experiencing something difficult or painful.
6:57
And when we compare the two, sympathy is a feeling
7:00
of sincere concern for someone who is experiencing
7:02
something difficult or painful, as I just said,
7:06
and empathy involves actively sharing in that
7:09
person's emotional experience. Sympathy as a
7:12
word has been in use since the 16th century.
7:17
It comes from a Greek word originally that meant
7:20
having common feelings that were sympathetic.
7:24
The beginning of sympathy, the synth means with
7:28
or together and the pathos of the second part
7:31
of that word means to experience misfortune,
7:34
emotion, condition. But to be fair, the word
7:38
empathy wasn't coined until the 20th century,
7:40
so the word sympathy carried both terms for a
7:43
while. In 2026, though, Empathy is feeling what
7:48
someone else is feeling, fostering a deeper connection.
7:52
Sympathy is acknowledging someone else's emotion,
7:54
but keeping your own emotional distance. Empathy
7:57
comes from this place of connection and understanding.
8:00
Sympathy comes from a place of pity or concern.
8:03
For those who are wondering, what about compassion?
8:06
Great question. Compassion is defined as sympathetic
8:10
consciousness of others' distress together with
8:13
a desire to alleviate it. And while compassion
8:15
and empathy both refer to caring for someone
8:18
else's distress, empathy refers to actively sharing
8:22
in that emotional experience of the other person
8:24
while compassion adds to that emotional experience
8:28
a desire to alleviate the person's distress.
8:31
So now that we have all this information, it's
8:33
great and all, but the definitions of these words
8:36
can only mean so much and hold so much of an
8:39
argument for the Christian life, especially for
8:41
those who believe empathy is too woke. So, as
8:45
always, let's talk about what the Bible, God's
8:48
Word itself, has to say on the subject. Romans
8:51
12, 15 says, Rejoice with those who rejoice and
8:55
weep with those who weep. We can clearly see
8:58
that it means to feel what the other person is
9:00
feeling. Maybe not to their level, but on some
9:04
level. not just to acknowledge it. 1 Peter 3
9:08
8 says, Finally all of you have unity of mind,
9:12
sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and
9:15
a humble mind. This use of the word sympathy
9:17
is the 1600s version, not the 20th century use
9:21
of the word, when empathy came into play. But
9:24
if we stuck with today's version of the word
9:26
sympathy and we don't feel what others are feeling
9:29
on some level, how can we have unity of mind?
9:32
Not that we have much of that as the body at
9:34
the moment, but also how can we have brotherly
9:36
love or actually be tenderhearted towards one
9:39
another in each other's situations? John 15 12
9:42
says, This is my commandment, that you love one
9:45
another as I have loved you. Bro, if Jesus isn't
9:49
having empathy for us on this earth, then I'm
9:52
fearful of what my life actually looks like.
9:55
Because I fully believe my God's heart is for
9:59
me right now. Speaking of Jesus, let's talk about
10:03
him for a hot minute. Because he's why we are
10:05
here having this convo, is he not? There's a
10:08
story in Matthew where Jesus is walking from
10:11
town to town. healing diseases, preaching the
10:14
gospel, and other things when he looks around
10:16
and he sees the crowd. The Bible says he had
10:19
compassion on them because he saw how they were
10:22
harassed and helpless like lost sheep. Compassion
10:25
means to not only feel for someone on an emotional
10:28
level, but to want to alleviate their situation
10:31
as well, right? So Jesus saw these people helpless
10:34
and like lost sheep. Not only was he already
10:37
on this earth for the purpose of saving us and
10:39
could have thought, good thing I'm here because
10:41
y 'all sure need a shepherd, that's for sure.
10:45
No. He felt it on an emotional level as well.
10:49
And in that moment. And probably in many other
10:52
moments, I'm sure. Another person in the Bible
10:55
named Ruth, who was actually in the lineage of
10:57
Jesus, is also a really good example of empathy.
11:01
She felt for her mother -in -law. I mean, this
11:04
girl lost her husband. lost her father -in -law
11:06
and her brother -in -law, lost the town she became
11:10
familiar with, lost any sense of security, and
11:13
then her mother -in -law gave her the chance
11:15
to go back to her family, her old town, and her
11:17
old sense of familiarity, which probably could
11:20
equal security, but she didn't. She stayed with
11:23
her mother -in -law and followed her to a new
11:25
land, a land of unknowns, not wanting to leave
11:28
her alone because she knew what her mother -in
11:31
-law was feeling as well and had empathy for
11:33
her and didn't want her to take on that journey
11:36
alone. We also have the parable of the Good Shepherd,
11:40
but I don't think you need to hear that one rehashed
11:43
for the thousandth time, to be honest. All this
11:46
talk reminds me of God funny enough. I've actually
11:48
been reading First Samuel with a friend, yes.
11:51
Yes, we did make it through Job, thank you for
11:53
asking. Anyways, in chapter 1 we see Hannah enter
11:58
the scene. She's being harassed by her husband's
12:01
other wife for having no children. Hannah's in
12:04
the temple pouring out her heart to God, and
12:07
they'll keep bargaining with him. God takes pity
12:11
on Hannah, or you might say has empathy for Hannah,
12:15
if you will. He sees her broken heart, and just
12:18
to get it the full drama that it probably was
12:21
at the time and does deserve, he saw how distraught
12:24
her very soul was. God had compassion on her.
12:28
and in his own time gave her a child. Actually,
12:32
every time he gave her a few kiddos. King David
12:34
even says in Psalm 56 verse 8, God collects all
12:39
my tears. David is basically saying that he is
12:42
aware of God's heart towards him. God feels for
12:46
what we are feeling and we know this because
12:49
we've read how God has compassion for what we
12:52
are feeling or experiencing in this world. Based
12:55
on that, do I think empathy is from God? Yes,
12:58
I think he has given it to us so that we can
13:01
have compassion for others. I think empathy leads
13:05
to compassion, actually. I don't believe as humans
13:08
we can experience compassion without empathy,
13:11
but I also think we need to have really good,
13:16
realistic, healthy boundaries emotionally when
13:20
it comes to empathy. The reason I think we need
13:23
to have realistic healthy boundaries is because
13:26
as Christians, if you have a heart for people
13:29
like God has called us to, we can get caught
13:32
up in the emotion of things. Like for example,
13:36
if there was an unhoused person panhandling on
13:38
the street, you can have compassion for them.
13:41
Give them money or food and imagine in your heart
13:44
for a moment how they are feeling, and maybe
13:47
take on a small portion of what those emotions
13:50
are or aren't to help in whatever way that causes
13:55
you to want help in whatever way you can. But
13:58
you can't be fully in their shoes unless you've
14:00
been displaced like them before. And bro, it
14:04
wouldn't be healthy for us to feel it on that
14:06
level. It's not that deep. That would make you
14:10
so delusional. You can't experience what they
14:13
are experiencing, but you can feel for what they
14:15
are experiencing. This just reminded me, you
14:18
know who didn't work with empathy? The Pharisees,
14:22
but also Job's friends. And those two examples
14:27
worked with a lack of grace for others as well,
14:30
actually. Grace and empathy go hand in hand.
14:34
Jesus had empathy for us which extended into
14:36
grace. So, is empathy too woke? Is it a sin and
14:41
not biblical? I'd say based off of what the Bible
14:44
says, no, it's not too woke at all. It's built
14:48
into Jesus' character, his empathy allowed for
14:50
compassion and grace. And I believe we are called
14:54
to live out his image. Thanks so much for listening
15:08
to the living free podcast. I hope that you enjoyed
15:11
it. Let's stay connected You can message me or
15:15
follow me on Instagram at Hannah Liz D or you
15:18
can email me at living free pod at gmail .com
15:22
If you're loving the podcast, I'd be so honored
15:25
if you'd go ahead and hit that subscribe button
15:27
and leave me a review. And if you have any feedback
15:30
or subject you'd like me to cover, please go
15:32
ahead and email me or DM me on Instagram. Again,
15:36
thank you so much for listening. I hope you feel
15:38
encouraged and lighter today. Bye, y 'all.