This paper argues for a connection between Bonhoeffer’s vision of community and the Filipino value of malasakit (i.e., a concern for others, compassion, empathy). Born out of a compelling desire to see the Church of Jesus Christ revitalized, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together became a resounding and reforming call in light of his era’s combat, cowardice, and compromise. This paper demonstrates interesting similarities between Bonhoeffer’s view of community and the Filipino concept of malasakit. However, the paper also notes how the Filipino concept helps to highlight important gaps in Bonhoeffer’s view and similarly highlights ways that Bonhoeffer’s view can improve Filipino theological efforts in this direction. Moreover, an important gap in Bonhoeffer’s proposal can also bridge the connection between his vision in Life Together and the Filipino malasakit.
The thesis is developed by first showing how Life Together’s emphasis on the value of togetherness through Christological revelation and reality in and through the Church can resonate well with malasakit. Second, by highlighting a gap in Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, the paper contends for a Trinitarian bearing that can aid a Filipino theology of empathy and further enhance the concept and practice of malasakit. Third, this paper seeks to briefly propose a Trinitarian version of malasakit that translates into concrete relations of Christ as a community. Bonhoeffer’s convictions on the gravity and glory of a community centered on the divine revelation of Jesus Christ resonate with this Filipino cultural value.
Overall, this paper seeks to offer a Christian theology of empathy integrating Bonhoeffer’s vision and the Filipino virtue of malasakit that can be beneficial in understanding the social fabric of the Church, helping address wider Asian concerns despite an ever-increasing hostile environment. This proposal matters to a wider audience (e.g., Christians across Asia, as well as in North America and elsewhere) as it explores the intersection of Christian theology and communal values from a global perspective. Understanding how concepts like malasakit align with Bonhoeffer’s principles of community can inform discussions about fostering inclusive and compassionate communities within the landscape of global evangelicalism.