The Bible talks a lot about neighbours. For example, when Jesus speaks of the two great commandments, he says the following:
28 One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”1
So, loving the neighbour is the duty of every Christian. Who is this neighbour? And how are we to love them? For this, the question we need to answer is: Why are we asking this question? Is it really to know who our neighbour is, or is our attitude more towards probing for what needs to be done so that I can make God happy. Are we thinking, “I don’t like this person, so, I need to find a way to ensure that he’s not my neighbour, so that I have no obligation to love him”, or do we think “Can I have only one or two people who are my neighbours? I don’t think I can love any more people than that”. If our thinking behind asking the question is flawed, then we will twist the words of scriptures to fit into something that conveniently makes our enemies people who are not our neighbours, and the only neighbours we have world be our friends.
When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, do we try to make up excuses to hate them over and against the word of God incarnate? What about when we’re called to love as Jesus loved? Are we trying to find ways that it can benefit us while letting go of all the sacrifices that come along with it? Are we ready to let our love be met with hate? Let our generosity be met with greed? These are all questions we need to ask ourselves and try to answer before we approach the scriptures about how we should behave towards our neighbours.
If we look at it from a different angle, the question that pops up is, “Who is not my neighbour?”. Is there any human on earth alive at this moment that is not my neighbour? The answer to that is no, because of the words of Jesus in the following passage:
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 Instead, love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful2
If we are loving our enemies, we are making them into our neighbour. Yet, even if someone contends that the divisions need to be maintained for some reason, we can reframe the question into: Is there any human on earth alive at this moment that not called to love? The answer to that is a resounding no, without any exceptions. So, my question to you is, now that you know who your neighbour is, are you loving them? If so, how much is that love? As much as you love yourself?
Leave a Reply