In light of the events of this last week, most notably the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the turmoil that has followed, I have repeatedly been asked the question “what should the church do in these times?” I wasn’t exactly searching for an answer to that question in my quiet time with God this week, but as He is want to do, He answered it anyway. It was in one short verse, but it stopped me in my tracks.
But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” – Luke 10:29
As story of no coincidence but great consequence
I have been working through the book of Luke for most of the year, and on this day, I arrived at the parable of the good Samaritan. That was no coincidence. But it was of great consequence.
You probably know the story well. Answering the self-justifying lawyer, Jesus tells a parable in which a Samaritan man comes to the aid of a Jewish man, a Levite, who has been beaten and robbed. The text says that upon finding the man, the Samaritan “felt compassion.” That word in Greek is much more powerful than the English translation seems to allow. It literally means “moved as to one’s bowels” – a compassion so deep it stirs the very depths of one’s being. It’s the same word repeatedly used of Jesus when He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and searched out the lost (Mt. 14:14; 20:34; Mar 8:2). It is also used of Him when, going from village to village, He saw so many distressed sheep without a shepherd (Mar 6:34).
At its core, what the word reveals and describes is love. A deep, abiding love. The Samaritan man loved the Levite. And it’s a shocking revelation. Why? Because Samaritans and Levites were bitter enemies. They had a long history of animosity towards one another; think Hamas and Israel. And yet, the Samaritan sets all of this aside when he sees a fellow man in deep, distressing need. Through this example, Jesus essentially says to the lawyer that the definition of neighbor extends to one’s worst enemy and includes everyone in between. To love your neighbor as yourself, therefore, means you love everyone. It means you feel compassion for everyone. It means you are stirred to the depths of your very bowels at the sight of anyone in need, lost, and separated from Jesus.
Why are we still asking the question?
So, back to that one verse that stopped me in my tracks. Why did it make me stop and think? Because it dawned on me that we’re still asking the question. Like the self-justifying lawyer, we’re still asking “who is my neighbor?” But unlike the lawyer, at least when he first asked the question, we have the benefit of Jesus’ words. We know the answer. The question is, are we accepting it? Sometimes it seems like we’re saying, “Ok, Jesus. But really now, who is my real neighbor?” It’s understandable because the response Jesus gives can be hard to swallow when we consider its breadth. I mean, really hard to swallow. Just think about it.
Was my neighbor Charlie Kirk? Yes. I have no problem saying that. But what about Tyler Robinson? Is he my neighbor? The answer is still yes. I may not like that, but I can’t change it. And our problem with the question is far greater than a single man and his assassin.
Do my neighbors include the Proud Boys? Yes. What about members of Antifa? Yes. Is my neighbor Donald Trump? Yes. Well, what about Nancy Pelosi? Yes. Is my neighbor Vladimir Zelensky? Yes. What about Vladimir Putin? Yes. Is my neighbor Benjamin Netanyahu? Yes. Was my neighbor Yahya Sinwar? Yes. Are my neighbors the people who advance gender confusion? Yes. Are my neighbors the doctors who perform abortions? Yes. Are my neighbors the people who call me a hater for my beliefs? Yes. I could go on, but you get the point.
Considering someone your neighbor does not mean you accept their actions or stances, regardless of how offensive, hurtful, or tragic those actions or stances may be. Considering someone your neighbor simply means you love people like Jesus loved people – unconditionally. It means you desire that not one would perish. After all, as Dr. Darrell Bock puts it, “people are not the enemy, they are the goal.” Ultimately, considering someone your neighbor means you see the possibility of redemption in every human life, no matter how unlikely it may seem. Jesus is up to the task – He can change anyone who comes to know Him.
Moreover, God is in the process of redeeming all things, as foreign an idea as that may seem to us right now. Until He does, we’re going to have tragic events like the one we just went through. But now is not forever, and forever is not now. His is the plan of forever. We have a choice. We can either step into His redemptive plan with Him, or we can go on with some other plan of our own making. We know which plan will ultimately prevail. And it’s not ours, unless ours is His.
What is the church to do?
What is the church to do in times like these? I believe it is this. Consider the example Jesus gave of the Good Samaritan and, just as He told us, “go and do the same.” The answer to the question is both simple and very difficult – we are to love, no matter what. In a world where anger and conflict reign, we are to bring peace. In a world that peddles hate, we are to offer love. And love begins with prayer. A prayer for the redemption of all souls, because our Redeemer truly lives and He truly saves. That’s what the church should do.
Oh, and also… stop asking the question.