Who Is My Neighbor?

Who Is My Neighbor?

—Luke 10:29

Who is my neighbor?” With the fast pace of life today, many of us would be hard-pressed to even know the names of those who live next door. Gone are the days when we shouted across the white picket fence to borrow a cup of sugar. It is not just difficult; it is virtually impossible to love our neighbors as Christ commanded when we don’t even know their names.

We all have our comfort zones. All of us have an easier time reaching out to certain people than to others. We all are more comfortable in certain social, political, religious, even economic circles than in others. So it is all too easy to get stuck in our comfort zone and never venture out to get to know our neighbors. Clearly, we can learn much from the man we have come to know as the Good Samaritan.

When a lawyer approached Jesus and asked, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). Jesus answered with a story about the good Samaritan. This man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho when he came upon a fellow traveler who had been beaten, robbed, and left by the side of the road. Some religious types had passed him by, choosing the other side of the road and rationalizing their decision not to help. But this Samaritan—a member of a race despised by the Jews—stopped, felt compassion, bandaged up the wounded man, and took him to a nearby inn to recuperate. Interestingly, despite this noble and good deed, Jesus never called the Samaritan “good.” Jesus simply said, “A certain man . . .” (v. 30). Yet when we see someone who loves in this simple yet profound way, when we see him doing what he—what we—ought to do, we put a label on him to call him “good.”

So as to the lawyer’s question, “Who is my neighbor?” When Jesus answered with this often repeated story, He challenged us to leave our comfort zones and get involved in the lives of those around us who need help. Here are four steps He calls upon us to take for getting involved.

STEP 1: SEE THE NEED

This story shows that the process of loving—or not loving—a person in need begins when the passerby sees him (Luke 10:31–33). The priest and the Levite had noticed the same mangled man and chose to pass by on the other side of the road. Clearly, the priest and Levite didn’t really see him with their hearts. The Samaritan, however, did see the wounded man, and his seeing prompted action.

Too often we, like the priest and the Levite, look at but don’t actually see the people around us. Or if we happen to notice needs, we don’t see clearly enough with our hearts to want to reach out. Jesus’ story shows, however, that the initial step of loving our neighbors requires our vigilance: we need to commit to consciously see those around us who are in need. How often do we drive by dozens of people in need as we go to church to discuss and pray for people—especially for people on the other side of the world—who are hungry, lonely, sick, and living in darkness? We would do well to ask God to help us see the needy people who are around us—as this Samaritan did—with our hearts as well as our eyes.

STEP 2: FEEL THE NEED

Upon seeing the beaten man, the Bible says the Samaritan “had compassion” (Luke 10:33). His heart went out to the person in pain and in need despite the fact that—and Jesus made this very clear—the beaten man was a Jew and the one who rendered aid was a Samaritan. If that doesn’t mean much, think of it this way. In modern terms, this gesture was like a black, liberal, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat seeing a white, southern, fundamentalist, Tea Party member in need! It was akin to a member of the NAACP seeing a white supremacist militia man lying on the side of the road. The religious, political, and racial animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans was indescribable.

The Samaritan not only saw the need; he felt it. He had compassion on the beaten man, and such compassion fuels our involvement in other people’s lives. Too many of us today are, like the priest and the Levite, too preoccupied, too self-centered, or too comfortable in our ways to stop and meet another’s needs. We choose to walk by on the other side, perhaps pretending to be oblivious to the hurts and needs of our neighbors and clearly choosing not to help. The choice to be involved in other people’s lives, the choice to help meet their needs, is rooted in one’s heart.

STEP 3: TOUCH THE NEED

Having noticed the hurt man, the Bible says the Samaritan “went to him and bandaged his wounds” (Luke 10:34). It is not enough to see a need and feel a need. In this story, Jesus called us to reach out to touch and help the person in need. And in the situation Jesus described, the despised Samaritan took a big risk when he stopped to help the Jew. I wonder how many needs around us go unmet because we are not willing to take a risk as we travel our own Jericho Road. This Samaritan, however, did not let the risk or the cost involved deter him. He chose to take the risk and touch the need.

When God’s people take risks and touch needs, His kingdom always advances. Abraham, for instance, risked leaving all he knew to go to a land he had never known. Moses took a risk and returned to Egypt, where he was wanted for murder, to lead God’s people out of bondage. The young Virgin Mary heard an angel’s message and risked believing it. Similarly, her fiancé, Joseph, risked believing that the child in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Talk about a risk! And the Samaritan risked answering the question “Who is my neighbor?” when he saw the Jewish man’s need. He felt the need. Then he left his comfort zone and touched the need.

STEP 4: MEET THE NEED

This Samaritan could have passed by the bleeding man and, like the priest and the Levite, walked on the other side of the road. But the Samaritan didn’t. Or the Samaritan could have bandaged the wounds and then left the man at the side of the road. But he didn’t. The Samaritan carried the man to an inn, left him in the care of the innkeeper, paid his bill in advance, and promised to return in a few days to pay for any extra expenses. The Samaritan not only met the need for that day, but for the days to come, and promised to follow up.

Consider for a moment that each of us has been the wounded man lying at the side of the road. Jesus saw us beaten, battered by sin, and lying on the side of the road. Overwhelmed by compassion and love for us, He left heaven (His comfort zone), came into our world, and then touched us. Jesus took our old heart out and put in a brand-new one. Then, like the Samaritan, He took us to the inn—to a place of fellowship with His people—and promised He would come back to settle all accounts!

At the end of the story, Jesus asked which person was a neighbor to the wounded man. His hearers replied, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to them—and to us—“Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

Q & A: “Who is my neighbor?” My neighbor is anyone and everyone to whom I can be Christ’s hand extended—and that definition includes people outside my comfort zone. I am to see the need—and not be blind to it. I am to let go of my heart so I can feel the need. I am to touch the need even if that means getting dirty. And I am to meet the need, following up after my initial response whenever necessary. In the words of Jesus, “Go and do likewise.”