Chapter 2: Who is your neighbor, brother and sister?

It is never a good idea to interpret the bible from a cultural perspective. Bible symbolism never agrees with cultural understandings of words people use in their native cultures. Neighbor, brother and sister are among those words.

In the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus gives a strong rebuke to religious people for adopting a narrow definition of neighbor. Jewish religious leaders (i.e. priests and Levites) ignored the near-dead man on the side of the road but a Samaritan man helped the wounded man.

Because Jews considered Samaritans to be religious outcasts and would not mix with them, this story is a direct rebuke of Jews’ discrimination of anyone who was not a Jew. Not only would Jews not associate with Gentiles, they would not help them when they were in need.

The Samaritan who helped the dying man had mercy on the man while the Jewish religious leaders ignored him. The Jews had a very narrow view of who their neighbors were while the Samaritan had a wide view that included anyone in need.

Jesus told the parable in response to the question about how to inherit eternal life. In effect, Jesus said that having mercy on strangers is the way to inherit eternal life. He made a clear and direct association between eternal life and loving your neighbor when he told the Jews that they would not inherit eternal life unless they adopted the Samaritan’s global view of who their neighbors are. This teaching agrees with the understanding of eternal life as God’s word written on the heart. In this example, the words written on the heart of the Samaritan were “love your neighbor.”

Because the Jews considered Gentiles to be unclean, they could not associate with them or help them. God corrected the Jews’ exclusive partiality toward Jews and exclusion of Gentiles (i.e. anyone who was not a Jew) when he commanded them to love gentiles, foreigners and aliens and give them the same rights as Jews. This interpretation demands that we apply a global definition to our understanding of who our neighbors, brothers and sisters are. God insists that equal access to his love must be unconditionally available to everyone. He emphasizes that demand by calling favoritism sin.

Jews and many Christians like to refer to their co-religionists as brothers and sisters and show favoritism toward them in many ways. This narrow definition of brother and sister is sin just like a narrow definition of neighbor is sin because discrimination that includes those we favor while excluding others is favoritism (i.e. sin.)

This principle applies to all of our relationships – not just people we know intimately. It is not about religious use of the words neighbor, brother and sister. It applies in every aspect of our lives:

It applies whenever we have an opportunity to do good for someone or ignore their needs.
It applies in face to face and remote relations.
It applies in our philanthropy where we make choices about how to use our financial resources and time to help others.
It applies in our attitudes toward government where we vote for leaders whose policies show that they want government to exhibit love for neighbors represented in these links:

Of all these life circumstances, politicians and people who support them with money and votes have the most profound opportunities to love their neighbors according to God’s definition of love. It can be said, therefore, that politicians who support government policies that ignore the needs of some classes of people (e.g. people of color, poor people, immigrants, etc.) while adopting policies that benefit others (e.g. wealthy people who support them with money, white, Christian, Europeans, etc.) are guilt of sin. Accordingly it can be said that voters who make donations to those politicians and vote for those politicians because they adopt those policies are also guilty of sin.

Politicians and voters who identify as Christian like to think that their religious beliefs about Jesus guarantee eternal life for them. The story of the good Samaritan disputes that belief. They obviously don’t know that neglect of the needs of their neighbors is sin. Jesus, the one they claim to trust for their salvation, said so very plainly in the story of the Good Samaritan.

It would be good if someone would remind those politicians and their religious brothers and sisters who vote for them about Jesus’ words. Giving them a gentle reminder would be the neighborly thing to do. Unless someone shares the truth with them they will remain ignorant about the true meaning of eternal life and sin.