Different Lenses: Empathy by Brotherly Love

"Let brotherly love continue. Don't neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily."
- Hebrews 13:1-3

I am extremely challenged by these verses. Somewhat by verses 1 and 2, but especially by verse 3. As I consider the command of having brotherly love continue I can do nothing but agree! Who wouldn't? -- But how.. well, verses 2 and 3 (and continuing) offer a very practical and in-exhaustive list.

Hospitality -- not all people consider themselves hospitable. They don't have "the gift" of hospitality.. I have considered that before, especially in my younger years! These days I would boast in my hospitality (with an unhealthy hint of pride).. but who do I desire to show hospitality to? My friends, yes. My friends' friends, yes. A homeless man? ... possibly. What about the most repulsive and annoying person you know who needs brotherly love. What about them? This is not a challenge to say that you should start here, but let's aim for it. Luke 12:48 says, "Much will be required of everyone who has been given much, and more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more."
Have you been given a place to live? Does it have room to welcome others from time to time? Well, find someone who has the needs that you can supply! It's part of the Kingdom Economy. Hospitality leaks into many other contexts other than just places of residence, but I'll let you figure those out in your life as I continue to find them in mine!

Verse 3 "Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated, as though you yourselves were suffering bodily."

Wow.. I live in America! How can I know, how can I feel this, how can I possibly empathize to these situations? I wake up every day in a house, I have food all sorts of food at my finger tips, and I can have coffee almost every day if I want. 80% of my furniture is comfortable; if I go outside I have clothes to keep me warm or sunscreen to protect me from the sun. I can shower each day (and night if I want to). Drinking water is readily dispensable from any location within a minute or less. My greatest discomforts are dry skin an occasional headache or sore muscle.
In relation to v3 of Hebrews 13, I consider all these things petty. But I'm not evaluating my position in life, but trying to learn how to empathize with those in seemingly impossible situations. Here is my attempt...

I've often speculated -- to the child in the 3rd world country, how horrible is it? This is the life they know, they haven't experienced my life, or another persons life. They don't have greater expectations. As I try to ask myself, what would it look like to wear the lenses that they see through, to empathize, I also have to ask myself could they empathize with me. They might not even desire the life I have (Which I think is the assumption that I think most American's assume about people from "lesser fortunate" areas.) -- My life is so easily desensitized from spiritual things. My focus is constantly drawn to things that are fleeting that were created for our pleasure and not God's Glory. Realistically, this is a partly a soapbox stemming from the Screwtape letters.

Honestly, to best empathize with a person who is imprisoned and suffering bodily, I find myself only desiring one thing for them. That same thing which we have been given hope for -- eternity in Heaven with Jesus our Savior, and God our Father. I don't desire my life for him -- America is full of snares for Christians, possibly even more so than a person who is imprisoned for their beliefs. My empathy for him is to pray for Him to desire Jesus more and to Trust in God more.

This is the best that I can come up with right now....

Please comment and share with your ideas and thoughts about hospitality and for sympathy in regards to continually showing brotherly love!

Integrity: True Gold in American Culture

"In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching. Your message is to be sound beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us."
- Titus 2:6-8 (HCSB)

As a wee lad, I went through a phase when I was fascinated with minerals, rocks, agate stones, precious metals, etc... why? Who knows, I have a collegiate degree in accounting, not geology. Anyway, in those days, I had a big rock known as "Pyrite" which is also called "fools gold". The reason being is that throughout history, Pyrite has been commonly mistaken for gold to the naked eye. Ironically enough, pyrite veins are typically located adjacent to real gold... however - one is real, and one is not. How do you tell the difference? Well, without chemical testing and scientific analysis, the easiest way is to scratch the mineral with something abrasive. If it is gold, it will mark/scratch, if it is pyrite, it will not. There's a metaphor to be drawn here regarding integrity and hypocrisy.

In today's culture, Gold would be viewed as that which has integrity, it is true to it's form all the way through, whereas Pyrite would be considered the hypocrite, that which is an imposter to another thing, or visually appeasing. When we look at Christianity today in America, a majority of American's identify as Christian, but which are hypocrites...? We see in the Bible, Jesus picked apart hypocrites like crazy (Matthew 23). And Paul did as well (Romans 12:9-21). So, we know they exist.

We can bring out the metaphor of "scratching the surface" to identify integrity as referenced in the Titus verses, by "being self-controlled in everything, making yourself an example of good works, and preaching a message that is sound beyond reproach". To break that down, we must first know the Gospel and be invested in it at a heart level, walking with Jesus. We must know God and be seeking Him first each day. And we must be living lives Spirit-filled and directed by the Holy Spirit. This is where soundness comes from. This will lead us to good works, not that save us, but those which are an overflow of the love of Christ towards us and others: Agape.

Now our surface has been scratched and we have been identified. Our surface is scratched each day, by circumstances, friends, enemies, Satan: What is the outcome? The desired outcome Paul states is "that the opponent will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us."

"... Having nothing bad to say about us."

I cannot fathom achieving this no matter how good I think I am personally! This is not achieved by our power... in fact, in cannot be achieved through our power. Jesus Christ set this example for us, empowered by the Holy Spirit (John 1:32-34) for good works, and calling on God the Father continuously for intercession (John 17), and dependence on scriptures (John 4:1-11) as he walked on this earth. We are not Jesus, how much more should we seek these these things?