The Table Video

What are the marks of love particularly in response to brokenness, suffering, sin, finitude?

Transcript:

What we’re called to as Christians is to love in response to the brokenness of the world. And I believe, Tom, as you’ve been pointing out, so many of us are called to that kind of response. Love is a call to heal brokenness. How should we think about love as a response to the vast brokenness in our world, especially when you break brokenness down into matters of suffering, or pathology?

Something that’s, especially psychopathology, our own mental health breakdowns. Love as a response to sin and thinking about forgiveness? And then love in response to our own natural finitude, our limits? That we’re simply unable to be better at certain points? What are the marks of love as a response to this brokenness?

It’s not different I think than love in other regards. There’s an acute attention to the personhood of the person we’re with. We view the person as someone of worth. We kind of strive to meet their needs. Psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, obviously do more of that, but the fact of the matter is everyone of us has neighbors who suffer in the ways you’re talking about. Mental illness is common increasingly.

There’s recognition college students have mental illnesses. So, it’s present. So, part of love is breaking down this stigma, saying that, “I love you, and you have problems, “and I love you.” So, that’s very important.

It seems that that requires a great deal of patience, and acceptance of serious tension at times.

Yeah, so partly what one needs to do, I think, is to open ourselves up to being loved, because as we’re loved we’re able to be more patient, to be more loving. As we receive God’s love, as we receive love in Christian community, then we’re more able to do that.

And a really critical part of that is what Tom said in terms of a give a take. We have to receive love, not just give love. Of course it’s a occupational hazard of therapists. Nurses, doctors, who are always giving. That they don’t receive. They get burned out. Teachers. So, there has to be a giving in order, there has to be a receiving in order to give.

I think the, I’ll speak for myself at least, I’m a person who sometimes sees a difficult transition, or situation in which there’s a great deal of pain and suffering. And I, my reaction is I want to step back because engaging means that I have to empathize at a level that will bring me discomfort.

Evan: It exposes you.

Exactly. And I’m oftentimes reminded of the story Jesus tells about the Good Samaritan, you know. The two religious folks go on the opposite side of the road. But what makes that Good Samaritan particularly interesting is that he comes near, and has compassion. And I think that there’s something important about this idea of suffering with those who suffer. Now that doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to leave everything in the suffering state, you want to help in the healing and transformation. But the coming near, to empathize and being with, I think is often a profound movement in the work of love.

It speaks of the Incarnation.

It does.

God’s own coming near to us.

Yes.

Evan: Yeah.