Who Is My Neighbor?

Was it a trick question? I don't think so. It seems he was looking for an answer to justify himself, but he got more than he bargained for when Jesus answered. The response redefined "neighbor" not in terms of race, religion, proximity, or status. Jesus made it much simpler. 

Your neighbor is whoever is in need.

His response was of a man traveling on a dangerous road when he is attacked by bandits, robbed, and left in the ditch for dead. Two people pass by who should care for this man because of their position in the community, but they do not. Then, another person comes who should not care, but he does. The one who stopped to help was different than the injured man. His culture, skin color, religion, social status, and community were all different. The injured man despised the helper's culture and thought his "type" was unclean, but the "unclean" man stopped and poured medicine in the man's injured places, bound up his wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his stay while he healed, promising to return later to check on him.

Then, something happens that causes me to stop in my tracks and reflect. Jesus asks a follow-up question to the lawyer: "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The lawyer replied, "The one who had mercy." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Look again at the question. Before this, my "neighbor" was the one in need. Now, the "neighbor" is the one who ACTED like a neighbor. Confliction? No, it is perfect.

We all have been the injured man, and whether we recognized it or not, someone came along and helped us get back on our feet (often a person we least wanted to help us). And who are the encouragers, the healers, or the ones who stop to help? The ones who best remember when they were hurting and lying in the ditch. Both are my neighbor, and both have been me.

Who is my neighbor? Some seek to despise, separate, and segregate their community into groups, so that they can hand select with whom they will be neighborly. Permission to hate others will eventually leave us all in the ditch. Are we different? You bet. Imagine if everyone in America was the same — what a bore that would be. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are for everyone.

Can we be different and still be neighbors? Of course. Today, you may be on the road. Tomorrow, you may be in the ditch. "Who is my neighbor?" seems like a trivial question now.



Mike Carswell is the chief of police for the City of Holly Springs.
3235 Holly Springs Parkway, Canton. 770-345-5537.
HollySpringsGa.us/departments/police