Like a good neighbor...

Read Luke 10:25-37

Yes, I know, this is a common topic of my musings, but I think it's important, and with it being a subject close to my heart, it's what I write about.

Love your neighbor. It's such a simple command. We hear it, and it sounds good, but how often do we live it. A recent viral video shows an example of this which parallels a raggedly dressed man with a well dressed man. Both men fall to their knees as if hurt, both cry for help, but in the video, only one person shows even a passing interest in the poorly dressed person, while few passerby don't stop to aid the better dressed man.

The point of the video is to point out how we judge people by appearances, but it illustrates the story of the good Samaritan rather well. After being asked "who is my neighbor?" Jesus tells about a man who has been mugged (by today's definition), beaten, and left to die. The man is ignored by a priest, then by a teacher of the law (the religious and civil arms of the Jewish government), but then a social pariah, a man hated by the leaders of the Hebrew culture of the day because he was not a pure example of Judaism, has compassion on the victim of this brutal crime and sees to his needs.

Here in America, the idea of a neighbor has become something of an enigma. We see the neighborhood cookouts on television shows and movies, but few such events actually take place. We may know the names of our next door neighbors, or maybe even the names of those a few doors down, but beyond that, it's a stretch. We put up fences and walls so we won't be bothered by the noise of the neighbors' conversing on their deck. If their dog happens to relieve itself in our yard, we grumble and protest, or even put up another fence as a silent show of annoyance.

We don't see our neighbors' pain because we don't know their stories. We don't learn their stories because we don't show ourselves as interested. When we do see the need, it's usually too late, and then we say, "oh, they can get government help with that."

We've forgotten our personal responsibility to love our neighbors. It isn't someone else's job. It isn't something we should leave to the government (they usually make things worse instead of better). It's our job. Sure, most of us aren't made of money (I know I'm not). We all have our own needs, but at the very least, we need to become neighborly agai; have a chat over the back fence, share a soda or other cool beverage. Have a neighborhood cookout.

But don't stop there.

We need to keep growing our love outward. Jesus said "...even to the ends of the earth." Yeah, those are our neighbors too. It starts local. It starts with us.