ReThinking Christianity

How Our Neighbors Become Redefined: Reflecting on 'Love Your Neighbor' - EP #50

• Blake Fine

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What does it truly mean to love your neighbor as yourself? Let's take a journey through the essence of Jesus' teachings, as we dissect the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10. Uncovering how this principle, meant to spread love, has been manipulated to erect barriers and sow division, we explore the role of biases in distorting our definition of the word "neighbor". 

Get ready to challenge the status quo as we ponder on the question, "Who is my neighbor?" We confront the ways in which we often redefine our neighbors based on our comfort and prejudices. Drawing from my own spiritual experiences, I share insights on how spirituality should serve as a catalyst for love and understanding, not a justification for hate and division. Together, we'll learn to view our opposition as the model neighbor, invoking the spirit of grace as Jesus did.

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Real quick y'all, if you are able to, can you help me spread the word about rethinking Christianity? There are three things that you can do Rate and review and share this podcast. It will only take a few seconds and it would mean the world to me and, more importantly, it could help somebody that may need it. I want my spirituality to rid me of hate and not give me reason for it. Christian history has a long standing kind of history of allowing ourselves to put up boundary lines and walls and things like that, and especially in American Christianity. Within American Christianity there has been a hijacking of the way of Jesus and Christianity as a structure and it's used for political purposes and used as a way to motivate people to vote and do and act in a certain kind of way, because it's used to reflect that if you do this you're a Christian and if you don't do this you're not Christian. And the people that are very devoted to wanting to be Christian, you know, a lot of times I think, are taken advantage of by political parties and groups and organizations because they push and use Christianity as a political weapon. And when Christianity is used as a political weapon, walls are put up between people. Welcome to Rethinking Christianity. Thanks for tuning in.

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Today's episode is one that was not planned, so I got all my stuff set up here to like record and everything, and I actually am doing this interview that I for some reason thought was today. Tomorrow so I have an interview with Benjamin Kramer I think that's how I pronounce it tomorrow, but I thought it was today and so I set up and I have all the stuff set up. So I was like you know what? I have some stuff that I can talk about and I can put an episode out. So that's what I'm going to do. I have a little bit of some stuff. I actually have notes this week, so I'm not like going to be rambling, hopefully. So I messed that up. I'm trying to think what else? Is there anything else that I've messed up lately? Probably, but yeah, so I really thought this interview was today for some reason, but when I went back and looked at my email, it's tomorrow. So today we're going to talk about an idea that I have been thinking through and I'm always somehow finding little new things to like think on, and that's honestly why that this podcast exists. So I hope that the last few episodes have been helpful to you in any kind of way. They want to doubt.

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Put out a sermon on lamenting. I had an interview with Kyle Eidelman on slowing down. I did one on what even is church, the structures of church and what that looks like. As well as trying to remember what was the other one, I put out Crap, I don't remember, but I know it's back there somewhere. But I've been trying to put out some of these episodes where I'm like just talking through some ideas, thinking through some ideas, and today I want to talk through an idea that I put a short video out about on Instagram and TikTok, and it's this idea of redefining neighbors.

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Redefining neighbors when you look at the scriptures and you look at the stories of Jesus, there's a and you know, just throughout his whole life he not only says things like this, but he lives it out. So he would say you know, love your neighbor as yourself. You know, pray for your enemies and those who persecute you. And what Jesus lived and did was this very like oxymoronic, like just very different way of living. It was, you know it's been phrased the upside down kingdom. If you read the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitude, it's like the things that we naturally think are positive. He looks at them in a certain light where it's like actually, I said to you, instead of thinking that way, I think this way. And you know, as I was thinking through this idea of what it looks like and what it means to have this idea of a neighbor and loving your neighbors yourself, I also thought about this idea of how, how do we define our neighbors? And there's a story in the scriptures that I want to look at and it's really, really good and I had read some articles that actually read an article that NT Wright kind of put out, where I got some different perspective on this. But I'm going to begin with a quote and I'll talk more about this idea of redefining neighbors, and this quote comes from Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, and it says this I want my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me reason for it. I want my spirituality to rid me of hate and not give me reason for it.

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Christian history has a, you know, long standing kind of history of allowing ourselves to put up boundary lines and walls and things like that, and especially in American Christianity, within American Christianity, there has been a hijacking of, you know, the way of Jesus and Christianity as a structure, and it's used for political purposes and used as a way to like motivate people to vote and do and act in a certain kind of way, because it's kind of skewed to like. Basically it's used to like reflect that if you do this you're Christian and if you don't do this, you're not Christian. And the people that are very devoted to wanting to be Christian, you know, a lot of times I think, are taken advantage of by political parties and groups and organizations because they push and use Christianity as a political weapon. And when Christianity is used as a political weapon, walls are put up between people. And as I was thinking about this idea, I began to think about this idea of Jesus says love your neighbor as yourself.

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And then you look at that word neighbor.

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Who is my neighbor?

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What is my neighbor?

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And how easy is it for us to allow our neighbors to be redefined based on, you know, the biases we have, the perspectives that we have, the ways in which we understand people, and so who is our neighbor? And how have we often allowed our neighbors to be redefined? And this quote it talks about. I want my spirituality rid me of hate, not give me reason for it and oftentimes Christianity is a motivating factor for us to be opposed to people and opposed to groups and opposed to, like you know, just people for their beliefs and the way they've grown up and things like that. And I think sometimes that the stances that Christians hold become weapons of not inviting, like they're not inviting people into Christianity but they're opposing others who think differently than they do, and I don't know if that was what Jesus was trying to get at when he was living. And you know, when I put out stuff on the Internet like that, obviously I get pushed back and things like that.

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But I think that it's important for us to recognize, you know, and think about this question who is my neighbor and how have we often allowed our neighbors to become redefined right, especially in America, because Christianity in America and the political landscape have a lot of times become, you know, partners, unfortunately on both ends, you know, and some more so on the conservative side of things, because that's much louder on that side. But there's a great quote that comes from a book called Jesus and John Wayne and I think it really illustrates this idea that I'm talking through really well and it says this Christian nationalism, the belief that America is God's chosen nation and must be defended as such, serves as a powerful predicator of intolerance towards immigrants, racial minorities and non-Christians. And so this is speaking to what I'm talking about. How have our neighbors become redefined? And the thing is, if we can redefine and redefine and redefine, you really are only loving people that look like you or maybe not look like you, but they look like you in their beliefs, they look like you in their way of life, they look like you in their political whatever. And for Jesus he says love your neighbor as yourself. He doesn't say love your neighbor. As you know, they believe what you believe. Love your neighbor as they vote, how you vote. Love your neighbor as they live in the same neighborhood that you live in. We're the same town, and so it's really, really thinking through this idea like, what does that neighbor look like? And if we allow these walls to be put up, we become defenders of systems, defenders of beliefs, defenders of all these things where we're so on guard that we don't open ourselves to like actually getting to know people and loving people and caring for people.

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And you know, when I look at these stories, that Jesus lived out. He was just very like present and open and he was welcoming and he challenged people. He challenged people a lot, but he did it in a way that wasn't, like you know, hurting people or like no, I mean. And there were some ways where Jesus did divide, but I don't know if it's the way in which we see it done today, and it's a really, really interesting thing. And so Jesus is Asked us that question or challenged us with that statement Love your neighbor as yourself.

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And there's a story in Luke that I mentioned earlier that I wanted to read and and I'd never really thought about it from this perspective and it begins with a question. As often, you know, jesus would get asked questions and people would, you know, hear him and he would often give answers that they didn't want to hear, and I think this is one of those situations. So, luke 10 this is a parable of the good Samaritan, and Often times I think people miss the point of this story, and I have for a long time. Okay huh, on one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He said teacher, so he's testing him, he's challenging him, so I'm sure he has an attitude about himself. He asked what must I do to inherit eternal life? And then, you know, he replies what is written in the law. He replied how do you read it? He answered this is the man Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as Yourself. So this phrase love your neighbor as yourself. And then Jesus says You've answered correctly. Jesus replied do this and you will live.

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So there's this moment where Jesus challenged with this question, and Jesus says well, what is what does the law say, since you all are so tied to the law? And then this, this person, challenges Jesus with this question that I'm talking about here, and he said he wanted to justify himself. So he asked Jesus who is my neighbor? Who is my neighbor? And it's like, okay, you're already trying to like get out of this. Like it's quite clear you, there's certain people that you want to love and there are those you don't, and the scriptures are filled with that.

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Look at the story of Jonah, where Jonah is called to go to these, this people group that he hates, and he doesn't, he doesn't want to do it. Right? This is the same kind of attitude here? Who is my neighbor? Then Jesus goes and he tells this story of the Samaritan, the Samaritans and the Jews, who are not fans of each other. And the point of this story, which is so interesting to me, is that Jesus uses Somebody right. He uses somebody that these people probably hate the Samaritans as the example of what it looks like to love a Neighbor. Right, he uses a group of people that are hated to be the model citizen, or the model example of what it looks like to love your neighbor. In reply, jesus.

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Jesus said a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and when he was attacked from robbers, they stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. The priest happened to be going down the road to a priest, a Jewish priest. When we saw the man, he passed on to the other side, so to a Levite. Another one. When he came to the place and saw him pass by on the other side and this is where it gets interesting but a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was and when he saw him he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine, and then he put the man on his own. Donkey Brought him to an end and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return I will reimburse you for any extra spent expense that you may have.

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And then Jesus challenges this question. He says which of these three do you think Was the neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? And the expert in the law replied the one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said go and do likewise. So to me, the most profound thing about this story is that Jesus, he uses a specific Person, defined within a people group that I don't think that the Jewish people would have seen as a neighbor. He uses this guy, the Samaritan, as a model. He's like this this is what it looks like to love your neighbor, to have mercy and grace and kindness and compassion. And I'm sure that, like these experts in the laws and these Jewish guys, as they're hearing Jesus tell the story, they're getting frustrated because what Jesus is showing them is you are the priests that walks by and doesn't see the person hurting. You are the Levi that walks through the other side of the street and none of you are like this Samaritan. And you're asking this question who is my neighbor? So that you can define who it is you can love and who you can't love, and who you can show grace to and who you can't show grace to? And what's so interesting here is Jesus. Then he said he asked him a question who, who? Who in this story was the one? Who? Who was a neighbor to the man who fell in the hand of the robbers? And the expert in law said the one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said go and do likewise.

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And it's this challenge, like that I think we often fail in, is, even if you're on a really conservative side of the you know spectrum or the progressive side of the spectrum. There's so much division in Christianity right now, there's so much division politically right now, and what we could do is we could tell that same story as our opposition, as the model neighbor, and it's a challenge to ourselves of you know, there's the capability of all people to love each other and to care for each other and should grace to each other. And Jesus tells his story to challenge us and to challenge the listeners of the story, and we often ask the question who is our neighbor? And what Jesus is challenging us with is the people that you think are not your neighbor or the ones that you probably need to be loving the most? And the people that you're opposed to are the ones that you need to be like caring for the most, because, as we do that, our hearts are open, our eyes are open, our minds are open and we're able to live out what we're called to live out as followers of Jesus, and that quote I mentioned earlier.

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I want my spirituality to rid me of hate, not give me reason for it. It's such an interesting thing to think on because it's oftentimes Christianity. Again, we allow it to create walls, boundaries. We see that in the scriptures, where Jesus and even, like I mentioned, jonah, like God, challenges us to like go past our boundaries and our walls and bring those down. And the point of a neighbor and loving our neighbor as ourself is to truly do that, to just love others as we care about ourselves. And so I wanted to talk through this idea as, like I said, you know I didn't have this really planned out, but I had been thinking on this idea and you know I think that this is really, really important for us to think on, because too often we have allowed Christianity to be hijacked and used as a weapon, and I've fallen prey to this and maybe you have to. Where we miss what. You know what the point is, and the Christianity is not about defending a country, defending a political landscape or, you know, winning culture wars, but it is really at the heart of it, is what Jesus has called people, that question of love your neighbor as yourself. You see, you know he's asked what it would have to do to inherit life, eternal life. He says love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. And so the challenge is who is our neighbor?

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As we kind of close, I want to, I did this last episode of a couple like questions to think on that I think could be helpful as we kind of wrap it up. So first one is this questioning perceptions, perception is a big part of how we unintentionally exclude people, right? So the question is this do you unintentionally exclude certain groups of individuals from your definition of neighbor? How can you challenge these preconceptions and embrace more understanding and openness to people that you agree with and people you disagree with. People that look like you, people that don't look like you, people that vote like you, people that don't vote like you. So how can we recognize our perceptions?

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The second is this you know, to have acts of love beyond like familiarity right, it's easy for us to like be kind of those we're familiar with. So consider a specific action to show love and kindness to someone outside of your usual circles strangers, individuals from different backgrounds. What this does? It expands our capacity for compassion and our ability to like not just do what's comfortable and what's familiar to us, but to continue to open that lens and open that door of who our neighbor is. And the last is this cultivating empathy. Reflect on, maybe, an interaction you had recently where understanding was difficult. I can think through a lot of these, like I have friends that I'm in group messages with and things like that, that I don't agree with a lot of stuff and I sometimes want to just like I want to be right, but I don't think that always is helpful. So how can you actively engage with those who hold different beliefs, cultivating empathy and an open heart to learn from their perspectives? You know.

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These questions, I think, are things that think on, because, again, who is our neighbor? And Jesus says to have life, to have life here in the next and I think having it here is just as valuable as the next to have life is to love our neighbor as ourself and to not allow our beliefs to be used as a weapon to define who our neighbors are, because that's what they were doing in loop 10. They ask the question well, who is my neighbor? Don't ask that question. Ask the question of who can be my neighbor, who shouldn't be my neighbor, like not those questions, but who is my neighbor? We often ask those questions like who shouldn't be my neighbor, or whatever. But we're challenged with this. We're challenged with the concept of loving our neighbor as ourself, truly living that out and thinking about these questions. So I hope that this is helpful for you. I'm definitely challenged by it and I know that oftentimes it's very easy to get in the midst of our life and we forget about this concept and this idea Because at the end of the day, we are looking after ourselves and our beliefs. But that's kind of what we're being challenged to do is to love neighbors as ourselves. So anyways, I am rambling at this point, so hope this was helpful.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to another episode of Rethinking Christianity. If you have any questions or concerns, hit me up on Instagram at Rethinking Christianity Podcast. If you don't follow us, go ahead and follow us on there. Subscribe to the YouTube channel. Really enjoy getting to do this. I'm super thankful for the people that listen and if it helps you, share it with somebody, leave a review, rate it. All those things help other people just like you Find the podcast. Until next time, I'm Blake and this is Rethinking Christianity. Thanks for listening to Rethinking Christianity. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. To catch all the latest from Rethinking Christianity, you can follow us on Instagram at Rethinking Christianity Podcast, as well as on YouTube and Facebook. Thanks again and I'll see you next time.