Love Your Neighbor–An Impossible Command
Other Posts in this Series
I started my quest a few days ago to determine what really is the most important thing in life. I decided that I couldn’t go wrong by agreeing with Jesus that the most important things are to love God and love our neighbor, and for the last few days I’ve written about what it means to love God. Now, however, as I look at what it means to love my neighbor, I’m having my doubts as to whether this is really do-able.
Relatively speaking, loving God is easy. God is good. God is forgiving. God extends love toward me. Why wouldn’t I want to love back? It’s easy to love that which loves me. When it comes to my neighbor, however, that’s not always the case. There are people who don’t love me (imagine that). There are people who hold a grudge against me or want to make my life miserable. These people are not so easy to love.
I think the Law expert in Luke 10 felt the same way. When Jesus said “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he wanted to know, “Who is my neighbor?” You know the story of the Good Samaritan that Jesus told in response. Notice the character chosen as the recipient of love–he is the Samaritan, the outcast, the hated, the despised. Jesus’ instruction to love is a command to love everyone, regardless of who they are and what they have done to us.
Later John talks about love in a passage we would rather dismiss. “We know we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 John 3:14) Wow. If we don’t love, we cannot have life. I don’t have anything to worry about, I tell myself. I love my wife. I love my kids. I love those who are kind to me. John doesn’t stop there, however. He continues to compare our love to that of Jesus. Jesus laid down his life to demonstrate love, so we should do the same. Wait a minute. Can I pick and choose who I’ll lay my life down for? For my children, yes. For my wife, yes. For my co-workers, hmmmm. For those who have mistreated me; are you kidding? So if I can’t bring myself to love this completely, am I denied life?
Jesus continues to push the envelope by saying we should love our enemies (Mt. 5:44). Love is not just about caring for those who are good to me. True love means caring for those who hurt me, despise me, and make my life miserable. True love means acting in sacrificial ways (even to the point of death) for others regardless of who they are.
It’s easy for us to repeat Jesus’ words–”Love your neighbor.” It gives us a warm feeling to think of the peace our world would have if everyone would just love each other. However, peace is possible only with radical love few of us are willing or able to live. Can you (or I, for that matter) forgive the person who said hurtful words to you today? Can you truly love the person who abused you as a child? Can you embrace the individual who took advantage of you or physically hurt a family member?
A few years ago in the town where I was living a young man was murdered while he tended his shop. I conducted the funeral. Sometime later I had a conversation with the father about forgiveness. He couldn’t bring himself to forgive or have any love at all toward the man who killed his son. Could you? Could I? So how do we hear these words, “Love your neighbor”? How do we understand this command for our lives? Is it really possible for us to live this out day to day? If we are to live the most important things in life, then we must find a way regardless of its impossibility.
Comments
3 Responses to “Love Your Neighbor–An Impossible Command”
Share your thoughts...
You’ve put my thoughts exactly into words that make sense. Experiencing some recents hurts (within church, no less) and it IS hard…yet we are commanded to LOVE. This seems to be one of the biggest challenges… to love despite the hurt.
Hi Joey,
I just came across your website/blog, and although this post is from about a month and a half ago, I just thought I’d leave a comment here. I was intrigued by the title, because I also recently wrote a series of posts on my blog about the impossibility of the “love your neighbor as you love yourself” command. I never really intended for it to be a series, but I found myself digging deep into the matter, trying to “honestly reflect” on it, so to speak, :), and it became a series.
The essence, from start to finish, is that it is an impossible command, and was always meant to be, because that is the true purpose of the law… to stop mouths from justifying themselves (as the rich young ruler was trying to do) and to show us just how unholy and unrighteous we are in front of a holy and righteous God. I eventually moved into the “solution,” which is found solely in the Person of Jesus Christ, and His grace that is given freely to us for life and godliness.
Anyway, if you are at all interested in my series, it begins with the “prelude” found here: http://blog.graceroots.org/2007/09/just-follow-word-right.html
This is then followed by four posts, and then 3 more posts that are sort of “summaries” of it all. If you do happen to read it, I’d be interested to hear what you think, as I’m always open to discussion with other honest, reflective thinkers.
Hey Joel,
Glad you stopped by and took the time to read a little bit. I took a look at your series on grace and found myself agreeing completely with you. Yes, it is impossible to love our neighbor the way Jesus loved. Thankfully, God’s grace allows us to start afresh everyday. It is impossible to please God through trying to obey all the rules/laws. We please God by accepting his wonderful grace gift.