Becoming Love

Photo credit: Sherry Howard

by Katie Harding on July 29, 2024

We are now into summer, and with summer comes more occasions to see people in our neighborhood as we grill out, go for walks, and lay by the pool. It gives us greater opportunities to meet those who live down the street and sometimes those who are right next door.

Several years ago our staff read the book The Art of Neighboring, and we were all encouraged to ask ourselves the same question the lawyer asked Jesus in the story of the Good Samaritan: “Who is my neighbor?”

When we read this story, we almost always focus on the question the lawyer asked Jesus and either miss or ignore the question Jesus asked the lawyer. After Jesus told the story of a man being robbed, beaten, and left half dead, He asked, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man…?” Jesus’ question may seem similar, but it’s actually different than the question He was asked.

When the lawyer asked, “Who is my neighbor,” what he wanted to know was who he needed to love. If this was something he needed to do, of course, he wanted to do it right. And right for the Jews meant loving other Jews — and certainly only those who were clean. He was still looking for the opportunity to self-select.

However, when Jesus answered the lawyer’s question with an inverted question, He was letting the lawyer know it’s not about doing love. It’s about becoming love — becoming the kind of person who is loving to all people, regardless of their place in life, including the unclean man lying in the street. Loving isn’t something we do, it’s something we are.

When we ask, “Who am I a neighbor to,” it can change our posture. It’s not about treating people as projects or focusing on what we get from them. Instead, it’s about what we give to them. It can make us ask questions like: “Am I seeing others?” “ Am I being merciful?”

Mercy is compassionate treatment of others, regardless of their situation. We give mercy not because of who they are and what they have done. We give mercy because of who we are and what Jesus has done. There are no ulterior motives; nothing is expected in return. It’s actually very freeing to show kindness in this way.

When Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The lawyer said, “The one who showed him mercy.”

And Jesus said to him, as I’m sure He says to us, “Go and do likewise.”