Neighbor? Prove It! – The Kingdom Curriculum XVI (4)

Neighbor? Prove It!

The second great commandment

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:36, 37

Proof of Neighborliness

Don’t be surprised if those you begin treating like neighbors don’t respond in kind right away. After all, you may be looking at them as neighbors in need of love, but there’s no guarantee they’re thinking that way about you. They may be a little stand-offish or reticent. Some may even think you’re being pushy (hey, push love on me any day!). Getting up a neighbor relationship with some of these folks may take time, but we’ve got plenty of that.

This parable has a surprising twist right at the end. All along we’re supposed to be seeing that poor victim as our neighbor-in-need. But then Jesus asks, “Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor…?” The true neighbor is the one who takes the initiative in love. Neighborliness is not defined by proximity as much as by opportunity. We must not think of our neighbors as being confined only to those we see all the time, or who live in close proximity to us. Rather, we must be ever at the ready to be neighbors to those in need, by whatever means we can.

Our Christian brethren in other lands, who are being persecuted for their faith, need us to be their neighbors through our prayers, giving, and pressure on politicians to get unfriendly governments to lighten up. The poor in our cities need us to be their neighbors, which we can do by entering into the work of rescue missions and other inner-city agencies through our time and treasure. Unborn children need our neighborly love as we pray and work for the end of abortion and child exposure. The elderly, infirm, and diseased need us to be with them, lending the comforting presence of Christ in the midst of their loneliness or suffering.

Even the apparently happy and successful people around us have needs; and many of them are wishing that someone–anyone–cared. Loving our neighbors is what the Law of God guides us in doing. If we can learn to take the initiative, and keep up the pursuit, we may actually discover that we have more neighbors than we thought.

The earliest Christians earned the respect of the Roman Empire by taking on such neighborly duties. The same has been true in every age of Church history. We must not fail to carry on the legacy of our Christian forebears.

Order your copy of The Law of God and The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

–

In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.