In Matthew 22, we find where a lawyer asked Jesus a question. Trying to tempt Jesus, he asked, "What is the greatest commandment?" Jesus responded with, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
Who is your neighbor? Who is my neighbor? In Luke 10 we find the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was taking a trip. When all of a sudden, he was ambushed. Beaten within an inch of his life, he was left for dead. Two prominent Jewish individuals walked by him, sidestepping him. The third guy was a Samaritan.
In those years, Jews and Samaritans were not exactly the best of friends. They hated each other. But this Samaritan in particular didn't fit the stereotype. He saw the man who was near death and took pity on him. He loved him like Jesus does, even though he didn't know him from Adam.
Like a true Christian, the Samaritan took him, cared for him, and when he couldn't, he put him in an inn and payed for someone else to take care of him till he could return and resume the care-taking himself.
So who did what was right? Do you find it ironic that it was the man who, by society's standards, was supposed to hate the injured man? I certainly do.
A while back, I wrote a couple of blog posts on homosexuality; an
Old Testament perspective and a
New Testament perspective. But what I kept putting off was writing how we should treat folks who are different from what society deems as "normal."
I watched a video by a man who has cerebral palsy. It was a video response to a blog post on the issue of treating those considered different. When he mentioned he did a presentation on living as a gay man with a disability, I am ashamed to say my attitude changed. Then Jesus said something to me.
"Why did your attitude change? You are called to love everyone."
Love God first above everyone else. Love your neighbor as yourself. Why am I scared to love those who are different from me? What is so hard about it?
How are we supposed to win people to Christianity when we don't treat them as Jesus did and still does? I wonder what kind of things Jesus would do and say if His earthly ministry was in 2012, instead of nearly 2,000 years ago.
We are called to love everyone. Jesus died for ALL of us. Not just some. We aren't called to condone sin, but we are called to love. Love like Jesus. Because when Jesus loves, it's an irresistible love.
