Who Is My Neighbor?

This lawyer’s motives seemed to have been less than pure—He was trying to trap Jesus in some sort of inconsistency, where Jesus might have violated the Law of Moses -

Therefore, in order to make himself look more honest, yet more dubious at the same time: he asked a follow-up question. Who is my neighbor? -

Upon this question, Jesus gave a parable of a Samaritan man who dealt kindly toward a Jew -

Then Jesus asked the lawyer a question: who was neighbor to the man who had been robbed? -

The lawyer could not even speak the word “Samaritan,” admitting who was the true neighbor to this Jewish man.

He said “the one who showed mercy...”

That was true, but this highlights the problems between the Jews and the Samaritans.

“For the Jews Have No Dealings With Samaritans”

When Jesus was traveling back from Jerusalem to Galilee, He and His disciples stopped in Sychar (a Samaritan village) -

Here, Jesus began a conversation with a woman of Samaria—double trouble since she was a woman and a Samaritan.

And then John lets us in on the tensions between Jews and Samaritans -

John 4:9 NASB95

Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Not only did Jews and Samaritans have difference religious practices but there were cultural, racial, and ethnical tensions as well -

Samaritans were a reminder to the Jews of a bad spot in Israel’s past -

Samaria was part of the 10 northern tribes - v. 6

When Israel sinned, God sent the Assyrians to take the 10 tribes captive - vv. 22-23

The king of Assyria brought foreigners from other lands—other captives—to live in Samaria and settle it - v. 24

After several generations, Israel was restored in the land of Palestine, but the Samaritans were antagonists to the Jews -

All of these things created barriers between these two people groups. These tensions exploit the nature of racial tensions.

Racism is not a one-sided issue. While Jews hated Samaritans, the Samaritans hated the Jews -

Samaritans did not receive Jesus and His disciples “because” they were traveling toward Jerusalem.

It is naive of us to think that only white people can be racists.

Black liberationists and white supremacists are two radical ways to address this issue.

Black Liberation Theology makes the hermeneutical mistake of looking only for equality and justice in this life and seeing salvation as merely having an earthly affect—not an eternally spiritual effect.

White Supremacists believe that white, Anglo-Saxon people are the true, literal children of Israel.

Both mindsets are extremes which will create more racial tensions.

Jesus Christ and the gospel is the only true answer that will help ease racial tensions.

Exploring and Defining Racism

RACIAL TENSION Unrest and division among people caused by differing racial origins. Personal identity in the ancient world was not primarily based on race but on family, tribal, city, national, ethnic, or religious ties.

Unrest and division among people caused by differing racial origins. Personal identity in the ancient world was not primarily based on race but on family, tribal, city, national, ethnic, or religious ties.

Racism is something that has been a challenge for many brethren. Where churches of Christ have been strong (geographically), there has also been a strong sense of racism and segregation.

In 1907, Bellwood church of Christ in Nashville, TN wanted to exclude a young black girl who had been adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Elam. Members wanted the girl to attend the “colored church.”

David Lipscomb said in response to this situation, “No one as a Christian…has the right to say to another ‘Thou shalt not,’ because he is of a different family, race, social, or political station…To object to any child of God participating in the services on account of his race, social or civil state, his color or race, is to object to Jesus Christ and to cast him from our association.” (Reviving the Ancient Faith, p. 273)

Shepherds (who were typically Semitic) were an abomination to the (non-Semitic) Egyptians (). When the Jews lived outside Palestine, racial differences became more significant (; cp. ). Paul reports an accepted Greek maxim stigmatizing the Cretans as always being “liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (; “lazy gluttons” NIV). Because there is no racial distinction in Christ (; ), the church was able to spread rapidly to the Gentile world to encompass persons of all races. Divisions and prejudice based on race are unacceptable for Christians.

Foy E. Wallace, Jr. was a very capable preacher and defender of the truth. Yet, some of his writings reveal the struggles of racism that even good men have had:

“reliable reports have come to me of white women, members of the church, becoming so animated over a certain colored preacher as to go up to him after a sermon and shake hands with him holding his hand in both of theirs”

About Marshall Keeble, an African American preacher: “This letter is characteristic of the humility of M. Keeble. It is the reason why he is the greatest colored preacher that has ever lived…[black preachers like Keeble] know their place and stay in it, even when some white brethren try to take them out of it.”

A.B. Lipscomb, David Lipscomb’s nephew, on segregating white and black congregations: “The second meeting among the Negroes of Valdosta, Georgia, conducted by the colored evangelist, Marshall Keeble, of Nashville, TN, came to a close on August 9. All told, one hundred and sixty-six persons were baptized, chiefly adults…through the effort of the white disciples a large commodious house has been secured and regular worship prevails.”

Again, A.B. Lipscomb, “we whites have never made a better investment for the Lord nor any which brought such quick and happy results…the new religious and moral status for the Negro element…means that we now have better farm hands, better porters, better cooks, and better housemaids than ever before.”

The point of looking at these quotes is not to tear down these men. Hopefully they repented and changed their attitudes. But these statements do serve as a warning that even good men, people that should know better, have harbored evil attitudes towards people of a different racial background.

Aaron, Moses’s brother, had the same struggle.

Miriam, Moses’s sister, had the same struggle.

Peter had the same struggle.

Barnabas, the son of encouragement, had the same struggle.

Racism, bigotry, and hate judge people based on character-neutral traits:

Paul H. Wright, “Racial Tension,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1361.

Level of income

Level of education

Skin color

Bald

Genealogy

Gender

Racism looks like:

Refusing to talk to someone because of race

Refusing to listen to someone because of their race

Attributing less to someone because of their race

Justifying reasons to avoid interaction with someone because of their race

Mocking or belittling someone because of their race

Assuming negative characteristics about a person because of their race

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Racism

racism. A form of prejudice that discriminates among persons and social groups on the basis of ethnic origin or skin color. Racism is sometimes viewed in a positive light as the appropriate separation of humans into societies based on ethnicity and is defended by appeal to supposed distinctions among the various races of humankind or to theological considerations such as God’s intention that humans be separated into races. More commonly, however, racism is seen as a negative attitude, for it is generally characterized by hostility, contempt or condescension, and readily leads to social, economic and political mistreatment of others. Christians decry racism in this sense as contrary to the unity of humankind as created by God and as reconciled to God in Christ, as well as a violation of the dignity of all persons

Pocket Dictionary of Ethics Human Dignity

human dignity. The unalterable, inherent value due every person by virtue of being a human being. Although human dignity is a widely recognized concept today, much debate surrounds the basis out of which it arises and its practical implications. In Christian thought, human dignity is often connected to the idea that humans are the image of God

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Racial Tension

Shepherds (who were typically Semitic) were an abomination to the (non-Semitic) Egyptians (Gen. 46:34). When the Jews lived outside Palestine, racial differences became more significant (Esther 3:1–6; cp. Luke 4:25–28). Paul reports an accepted Greek maxim stigmatizing the Cretans as always being “liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (Titus 1:12–13; “lazy gluttons” NIV). Because there is no racial distinction in Christ (Gal. 3:28–29; Eph. 2:19), the church was able to spread rapidly to the Gentile world to encompass persons of all races. Divisions and prejudice based on race are unacceptable for Christians.

Partiality in Bible History

Prejudice is a “pre-judgment” based upon ethnic origin, national origin, family origin, or religious affiliations.

This prejudgment, in its negative sense, is a devaluing of other people based upon their origins alone.

We have seen the Jew/Samaritan tensions. We want to explore other areas that these prejudices are evidenced in the Scripture:

Moses married a Cushite woman, very likely a woman from Nubia in Africa, giving her darker skin than the children of Israel. Moses’s brother and sister had a prejudice against people of Cush…or at least Moses’s marriage -

Numbers 12:1 NASB95

Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

Also, the sin of partiality is evidenced in the Jew/Gentile tensions.

Partiality is an unfair and sinful way to look at our fellow human beings -

Acts 10:28 NASB95

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.

Peter was told to preach the gospel to the household of Cornelius, a Gentile.

In the early days of the church, the Jews and Gentiles had racial/ethnic tensions.

Peter learned that God is not one who shows partiality -

Acts 10:34 NASB95

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,

These verses are not simply implying Peter had to swallow his pride, quit talking bad about Gentiles, and he had to go preach the gospel to Gentiles…even if he didn’t prefer to do it.

Peter had to change the way that he looked at Gentiles. It was unacceptable to look at another man and call him unholy, common, and unclean.

He had to learn that salvation is based on doing what is right -

Acts 10:35 NASB95

but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.

Had had to learn that God does not judge a person based on flesh and blood, but on being born again, being an adopted child of God - ;

John 1:12–13 NASB95

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:5 NASB95

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

God will judge us based upon our deeds, not based upon who (or what) our mother/father/skin color/ethnicity might be or what other people of our same skin color might have done -

Romans 2:6 NASB95

who will render to each person according to his deeds:

It is not that eventually bad behavior is linked to flesh and blood -

Ezekiel 18:20 NASB95

“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

Calvinists believe that there is something inherent in our nature that makes us sinful.

If we think someone’s behavior is based on the color of their skin, we are no different than the false teaching of Calvinism since we have pre-judged them.

There simply is no connection between sin and skin color!

Paul reinforced the same message that Peter learned -

Romans 2:11 NASB95

For there is no partiality with God.

Paul reinforced the same message that Peter learned -

These racial barriers are to be lost in view of our salvation in Jesus Christ—we all become part of the family of Abraham -

Being part of the family of Abraham requires an adoption -

To demean some else’s value, always requires showing favoritism and partiality to yourself and to others who are like you. If someone else’s value is lowered, then inherently someone else’s value is increased. This sort of partiality and favoritism is clearly prohibited in Scripture.

The book of proverbs warns of showing partiality - ;

James also warns about having our faith in the Lord Jesus and not showing favoritism towards those of a different social-economic class than ourself -

Restoring The Image of God

When we are filled with bigotry and hate towards human beings based on pigmentation of skin, this reveals a shallow view of other people and a shallow view of God - ;

It is in God that every person, family, and tribe finds its identity -

Ephesians 3:15 NASB95

from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,

There is only one human race—different shades of skin color, like different eye colors or different hair colors.

Until the Tower of Babel, the people of the earth were unified -

Their sin was not in being unified; their sin was in being unified in their pride and disobedience to God.

God made every nation from one man to live on the earth -

Acts 17:25–28 NASB95

nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

Any human being—man or woman—has been created in the image of God to dwell on the earth.

Each person should seek God since they are His children (creation).

Black, red, white, yellow, etc.—we all come from the one man who God created. We all have the same God and Father in heaven that we should serve.

We are

To be filled with hate and bigotry is to be a child of the devil -

1 John 3:10 NASB95

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

You cannot love God if you do not love others; Jesus died for all people -

It is hypocrisy and misguided thinking to think that you can love God who you cannot see AND at the same time, hate your brother who you can see -

To hate your brother is to willfully disobey God -

1 John 4:21 NASB95

And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

To have hate and bigotry, is to stand in God’s way -

Peter was rehearsing what had happened in Joppa with Cornelius.

This is not a question of generational issues—it’s a matter of what is right in the sight of God.

“I’m not racist. I like black people.”

Even after Peter preached to Cornelius and entered his house, he was hypocritical by not eating at the same table with Gentiles.

He could have said “I’m not racists, I like Gentiles. I’ve been in their home and slept in their bed, being their guest, receiving their hospitality.”

However, Peter was hypocritical because he changed his behavior when pressure was applied -

We may think since we live near people of a different race/color, or we spend time cheering for the same sports teams, or we work together, hunt together, fish together, etc.—then we are not racist.

Maybe, but we could just be pretending.

What should I do? How must I help defuse racial tensions?

Don’t ignore, defend, or excuse ungodly conduct and attitudes in others -

Realize your words express what is in your heart -

Words do have meaning, they express something about ourselves, and they may cause harm.

Someone may think their words have nothing to do with what they really think. Jesus takes exception to that idea. Words show what is within us and words defile us.

Someone may deny being racist. Make it impossible for that charge of “racist” to ever be brought against you. Sadly, we hear someone talk and we know that they are racist. Avoid ever giving someone reason to doubt your love for others.

If anyone even thinks for a moment that you might be a racist, that should cause us to reflect and ask ourself we may have said or done to cause people to think that.

Don’t assume you are right and others are wrong; narrow-mindedness in this discussion is not a positive character trait. Learn to speak with others to gain understanding and empathy -

There is forgiveness and a path forward.

This is a Bible subject! Racism is not something new to our generation. It is something that has been around since ancient times.

That means the Bible offers teaching on how to actually handle this issue.

Repent of your animosity and acknowledge your wrong attitudes.

Then, bring forth the fruit of repentance.

Show hospitality, love, and kindness to all people, especially those who are different from you.

Ask for forgiveness from those you’ve wronged.

Bridge the gap—in situations where racism exists, be the person who makes things better; don’t make matters worse. Also, don’t be satisfied with the status quo.

Have you ever watched young children playing together? There is a level of innocence that children have that we have lost as adults. One afternoon while waiting for an oil change on my car, Xander got down in the floor to play with some blocks and invited another boy and girl to play with him. The boy was an African American child. He didn’t see a difference—he saw a boy who he could play with.

“Jesus Loves the Little Children” - red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight

Conclusion:

The lawyer asked an eternally important question: what shall I do to inherit eternal life? -

Luke 10:25 NASB95

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

The answer was not “either-or…pick one of two”—it was both “you shall love the Lord…and [you shall love] your neighbor as yourself” -

Luke 10:27 NASB95

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

If you cannot find in your heart to show compassion, mercy, and love for your fellow man, then how can you expect to receive compassion, mercy, and love from the God who created your fellow man?

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