The Cost of Neighbor-Hatred is Truth

When Jesus started treating Samaritans as neighbors, many of his own crowd turned on him. Why? Because at that time, "Jews had no dealings with Samaritans." (John 4:9) What was Jesus' problem? Jesus' dealings with Samaritans jolted everyone. Some Jews disowned Jesus, called him a sell-out, and declared him mentally unstable. (John 8:48). On the other side, some Samaritans refused basic kindness to Jesus and rejected him outright (Luke 9:51-56). Even the best of Jesus' followers justified their desire to call down fire from heaven and declare Jesus' neighbors as their enemies (Luke 9:54).

Many of his own people now doubted his patriotism and loyalty. Many Samaritans despised him with suspicion and cynicism. He was misunderstood by his own followers. Why then did Jesus persist? Why confront the walls dividing both cultures in this way? His answer? Because according to Jesus, to do otherwise would distort what is true about God. "I do not have a demon" he said. "But I honor my father . . ." (John 8:49).

Sometimes upholding the truth involves classrooms, bullet-points, creedal statements, and stating right content. But what if Jesus had said that Samaritans were worthy of neighbor-love in God's eyes, but then told the same Samaritan jokes as his friends, and made the same Samaritan despising choices as his colleagues in carpentry and his fellow-teachers and members of the Synagogue? To uphold the truth of God's convictions regarding who is a neighbor, Jesus was willing to make relational choices and endure relational hits. The result? Soon there were Jesus followers gathering in Samaria along with other Jewish regions and there was peace among these cross-cultural followers of Jesus (Acts 9).

I am wondering what this all means. It seems that to uphold the truth as a Jesus follower, one must have more than the ability to rightly recite his statements. To uphold the truth of Jesus, it seems, will require relational courage. It takes a savvy courage to recognize genuine differences of belief and practice while still affording the dignity of a neighbor.

I am seeking to hope that the One who turned sons of thunder into Apostles of love will show us this courage. He purchased it for us and will work it in us. Criticism awaits those whom He gives this courage. But so does faith, hope and love. According to Jesus, risking relationship for neighbors in this way honors God.

What does this mean for we who seek to follow Jesus in 63119 and beyond?