Who Is My Neighbor? by Chase Butler
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&view=post&articleid=Who-Is-My-Neighbor-by-Chase-Butler&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
By Chase Butler
We often want clear-cut answers, black and white, "just tell me what to do!" It's nothing new. An expert in the law asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. In true Jesus-fashion, he responded with a question. "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" Jesus asked. He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
PDF Download
By Asher Intrater
Price: $16.99
We often want clear-cut answers, black and white, "just tell me what to do!" It's nothing new. An expert in the law asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. In true Jesus-fashion, he responded with a question.
"What is written in the law? How do you read it?" Jesus asked.
He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
The expert continues, though, wanting to justify himself, "And who is my neighbor?"
Then Jesus tells a story.
It's about the Good Samaritan. If you haven't reread it in a while, you really should. It's in Luke 10. It's a timeless and timely reminder for our current spiritual and political climate.
It's a story about how the outsider, one hated by the in-group, was actually the one who acted righteously. The one who showed mercy and generosity, the example Jesus said to model, wasn't a guy who was part of the club.
Powerful...
Not the priest. Not the Levite. Not the ones who had it together by the societal and religious standards of the time—the Samaritan.
I can think of countless modern retellings. The Baptist preacher, the Conservative Republican, and the Muslim. The parallels could be applied to any number of majority/minority, accepted/rejected groups of people.
Controversial (then and now).
It's hard to imagine the ancient near eastern perspective in our modern minds, but I imagine some of you might have gotten a little uncomfortable with even the parallel I just used. Even more, Jesus's audience would have been taken aback.
The Samaritan is the good guy in the story?
Like I said, timeless and timely and a helpful lens to view the happenings of this world as all sides continue to bunker down behind the safe assumptions that we're the good/right side.
It's not "us" and "them." There is no "other." When we zoom out and ask the question, "Who is my neighbor?" we'll see the one thing that actually connects us is the grace, mercy, and love we show to all people, not just our own.
Chase Butler
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=234074&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
There seems to be a recurring topic that continues to come up in my life—the balance between contentment and goals. Do I appreciate what I have, and am I working towards something meaningful that forces me to grow? An either/or approach never works. On one hand, you lend yourself to apathy and stagnation. On the other, you live under the tyranny of nothing ever being enough, endless striving that costs you something you never intended. I don't pretend to have this figured out. Every once in a while, I sense the alignment between the two within myself, but it's normally a fleeting moment followed by the pendulum tipping back towards one side.
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=233123&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
There are moments when I long for an answer, clarity, inspiration, relief, or hope and receive nothing. Even in earnest seeking, eager anticipation, a proper posture, an open heart, a willing spirit—nothing. Then there are moments when I receive an answer, clarity, inspiration, relief, and hope when I least expect it. Not seeking, not anticipating, yet a glimpse is given. So what to conclude?
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=231499&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
If the idea of selling everything and living out of a backpack on the road sounds like a nightmare instead of a grand adventure, this post might not be for you. If challenging the status quo and questioning societal norms in the pursuit of a full and satisfying life sounds intriguing, then let's continue. The beauty of friendship is that conversations tend to draw out aspects of yourself that otherwise would have been left untouched and dormant, or at the very least overlooked or ignored.
Visitor Comments (0)
