The Bible talks much about being good neighbor. As a pastor, I see all the uncertainty and division in our culture today, and one of my concerns is that we can so easily turn on each other.
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The Bible talks much about being good neighbor. As a pastor, I see all the uncertainty and division in our culture today, and one of my concerns is that we can so easily turn on each other. We view each other with suspicion and wariness. Common courtesy has disappeared completely in some places; let it not happen here. Today I would like to remind the reader of a story Jesus used to illustrate how we should treat one another.
Now, it is perfectly natural for you to love yourself – it’s you! Who is more loveable than you? Additionally, it is natural for you to love those that think like you and share your interests.
In Matthew 22, Jesus says that we are to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, and mind.” Then in verse 39: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. We are to love our neighbor with the same intensity that we love ourselves. These two are inseparable; you cannot say “I love God” but hate your neighbor.
Jesus was once asked, “Who is my neighbor?” In other words, “What is the minimal standard?” His answer was the story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus puts into this parable, people with different cultures, different beliefs, different ways of life, and a different social status. Remember, the Jews and Samaritans hated each other. So, Jesus says, “I want you to look at people that you would normally despise, then I want you to sacrificially meet their need. Jesus is trying to show with this parable, that your neighbor is anybody you meet.You can go to heaven when you die, because Jesus Christ “made Himself in the likeness of men”, lived a perfect life, and gave his life as a sacrifice for your sin. Jesus was the ultimate Neighbor. Crossing a great divide to provide salvation for us.
Now, where are we today? Bitterly divided about the danger of a pandemic, bitterly divided about politics.
Can I encourage you with a truth: The Kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One. Our happiness does not lie in a political party.
Take a breath, smile at someone (yes, even if they have a Trump or Biden sticker on their car). Do not let your love for God and others be clouded by petty differences. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
With one tiny exception, this world is made up of others. We are neighbors. Let us begin to act like it!
