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"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"
Michael Posey
The atmosphere was tense as I walked a corridor of the data processing facility to my cubicle. It was the day
after the jury returned the “not guilty” verdict in the trial of the Los Angeles policemen charged with brutally
beating Rodney King. The night before I had sat glued to my television watching parts of Los Angeles go up in smoke.
Now in the Sears corporate data-processing center, racial lines were drawn.
Blacks stood in small groups talking about the previous day's events. Some were visibly angry. Most whites silently
worked at their desks. The day before these groups had talked eagerly, but not now. The tension was thick enough
to cut. As I looked at how this issue was dividing our office I wondered how the members of Cornerstone Christian
Center would respond. Over the previous two years our church had shifted from being almost exclusively white to
a racially mixed congregation.
It didn't take long for my answer to come. A black member of our church came into my cubicle. He started talking
about the verdict. “I'm mad, and I can't handle this anymore.” The next words out of his mouth shocked me. “I'm
leaving the church. I can't worship with white people or sit under a white pastor any longer.”
I tried explaining that we could not judge an entire race by the actions of a few. I asked, “What about the
people you've developed relationships with, doesn't that count for anything?”
“I'm leaving, white people cannot be trusted.” He never returned to the church.
How could this event affect my friend in such a way? Probably because one of the most important elements of
racial reconciliation was missing. Although this man attended a racially-mixed congregation and had his wedding
performed by the white pastor, he never committed himself to a relationship with anyone of a different race. So
when trouble came he did not maintain any of the cross-cultural relationships he was involved in.
Jesus Is into Relationships
Most Christians would agree that development of cross-cultural relationships is important for growth and unity
in the church. The reality is that there are many pressures to terminate or neglect friendships with people of
different races. Jesus foresaw that with the addition of people to the church, there would be an increase in the
diversity of backgrounds, temperaments, and expressions of worship. Not surprisingly He stressed the importance
of unity.
Read John 17:20–23 and meditate on it. What are the main ideas Jesus stressed about Christian unity?
What implications does this prayer have for the commitment of Christians of different races to one another?
What would you like to see your church do to show its commitment to glorifying the Lord through Christian unity
of different races and cultural groups?
Kingdom Extra
When two people marry, God stands as a witness to the marriage, sealing it with the strongest possible word:
covenant. “Covenant” speaks of faithfulness and enduring commitment. It stands like a divine sentinel over
marriage, for blessing or for judgment. Yet where husband and wife live according to their marriage vows, all the
power of a covenant-keeping God stands behind them and their marriage. [Spirit-Filled Life® Bible (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991), 1385, “Kingdom Dynamics: Mal. 2:13, 14, 16, God Backs Up the Covenant of Marriage.”]
You can illustrate any successful covenant by comparing it to marriage. Interracial friendships need the kind
of committed covenantal character that causes a marriage to survive its ups and downs. Consider the following four
elements of a covenant. [Daniel A. Brown, Unlock the Power of Family (Nashville: Sparrow Press, 1994), 57–59.]
1. Identification By Name. In my relationship with Greg Howse there is almost nothing he could do to
change my commitment to him, because I know Greg Howse. Our names represent to one another our character and our
loyalty.
Reflect on the strongest friendships you have had. What kinds of experiences and conversations would you need
to have with a person of another race to know that person by name like these other friends?
2. Rehearsing The History of the Relationship. Greg and I went through the transformation of Cornerstone
Christian Center from a mostly white congregation to the multiethnic fellowship it is today. Together we prayed,
talked, made mistakes, put them right, suffered hurt and misunderstanding, experienced great triumphs, saw friends
leave, and made new ones. Occasionally we have to sit down and remember our journey. It's a way to say, “As I have
been to you, I will be to you.”
With what friend do you talk about the past and the experiences you have shared together? What does that sharing
add to your friendship?
What kinds of experiences would you need to go through with a friend from another race before you could really
benefit from talking about your shared history?
3. Promise Making. In cross-cultural relationships both parties must agree ahead of time to confront
every issue that would seek to destroy it. No one can control outside forces that could disturb the relationship—such
as racially divisive current events or angry relatives—but the promises you make create a hedge to keep the relationship
more secure.
What kinds of troublesome issues do you think inter-racial friends should anticipate needing to face sooner
or later?
What guidelines for dealing with divisive problems do you think interracial friends should agree to follow?
4. Accepting Consequences. Covenant relationships are meant to be a source of emotional, mental, and
spiritual fulfillment, but they can also create indescribable agonies. This is certainly true of cross-cultural
relationships. Greg and I both have experienced rejection from people of our individual ethnic background.
What unpleasant consequences should you expect if God directs you to develop and maintain interracial friendships?
What blessings can you expect as the result of obeying God's leading into interracial friendships?
Why do you think God allows so many unpleasant consequences to accompany interracial friendships?
Faith Alive
Identify a person of a different ethnic background with whom you would like to enter a covenant of friendship.
How would you like to spend time with that person in order to create a special relationship? Circle the letters
of all of the options that appeal to you. Add your own.
a. Share breakfast or lunch once a week.
b. Regular exercise or athletics together.
c. Share a hobby.
d. Bible study and prayer.
e. Shop together.
f. Yard work or home repairs.
g. Regular family evenings together.
h. Go to movies or other recreational events.
i. Other.
j. Other.
k. Other.
If you already have a covenant friendship with someone of a different race, how could you strengthen it?
Who is My Neighbor?
A neighbor is someone who lives close by. When we apply this literal sense to our neighbors in all of mankind,
we might conclude that our universal neighbors are those who are “close to us,” in the sense of similar to us.
Jesus would have none of that kind of reasoning. He told the parable of the good Samaritan to shock everyone who
hears it, because that parable identifies our neighbor as anyone in need. A good neighbor is someone who inconveniences
herself or risks his reputation for someone in trouble. Jesus' model neighbor—the Samaritan—helped a Jew, a man
he was expected to hate.
Kingdom Extra
The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1–3) established moral obligations among the Israelites. They were commanded
to show concern for their neighbors. The ninth and tenth commandments (Ex. 20:16–17; Deut. 5:20–21) prohibited
the defaming or slandering of a neighbor and condemned the envying of neighbor's wife, servant, livestock, or other
possessions. A person was not to cheat or rob from his neighbor (Lev. 19:13). Despising one's neighbor was sin
(Prov. 14:21), as was leading him morally astray (Prov. 16:29–30) or deceiving him, then saying, “ I was only joking”
(Prov. 26:19) A person was not even permitted to think evil of his neighbor (Zech. 8:17). [“Neighbor,” Hayford's
Bible Handbook (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 712.]
If your neighbor is anyone who needs you, what individuals and groups in your community have the greatest claims
on you as their neighbor? Why?
Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan to a lawyer who tried to limit the group that he had to treat as
his neighbor (Luke 10:29). We do that too. For instance, some say that Israel was forbidden to marry or form close
alliances outside their race, so we shouldn't either. What reasons have you heard for limiting contacts with people
of other races?
How does the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30–37) answer the reasons you recorded in the previous question?
The parable of the good Samaritan implies that racial prejudice could cut us off from receiving help—perhaps
vital help—from people of other races. In what ways do you think our lives are made poorer when we isolate ourselves
from other races?
Word Wealth
Had compassion translates a Greek verb derived from the noun for viscera or internal organs. The Greeks
regarded the bowels as the place where strong and powerful emotions originated. Similarly the Hebrews regarded
the viscera as the source of tender mercies and feelings of affection, compassion, sympathy, and pity. Such deep-seated
compassion was the direct motive for at least five of Jesus' miracles. [Spirit-Filled Life® Bible, 1432,
“Word Wealth: Matt. 14:14, moved with compassion.”]
When have you seen a person treated unjustly because of his or her race? How did you respond inwardly and outwardly
to that incident? How do you think you should have responded?
Why do you think Jesus included racial and cultural diversity in His parable when answering the question, “Who
is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:30–33)
Faith Alive
Imagine you were going to rewrite the parable of the good Samaritan in terms of the racial dynamics of your
community or neighborhood. Who would be the majority race?
The road to Jericho was a high-crime area. What would be a corresponding nearby dangerous place?
Who would be a likely crime victim there?
What kind of crime would lead to assault and injury in your high-crime area?
Who would be the reputable but busy folks who could not get involved with the injured person?
Who would be the least likely minority-race hero to intervene and sacrifice himself or herself for the victim?
On a blank page at the end of this book, paraphrase the parable of the good Samaritan using your setting and
characters.
It's unlikely that you would frequent the place you described in your version of the parable. How can you be
involved in being a neighbor to the truly needy in your community?
How do you think your church could be a better neighbor to the truly needy in your community?
In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus makes it clear that love should not be limited by its object. Love
is demonstrated in action, and love may be costly. Jesus challenged the lawyer not to talk the talk of being a
Christian without walking the walk when he said, “Go and do likewise.”
Kingdom Extra
There was distinct racial strain between Jews and Samaritans (John 4:29). They did not frequently interact with
one another; and in some cases, outright hostility and hatred existed. But Jesus, early in His ministry, taught
the Samaritans the truth of God. He ministered to “the woman of Samaria” and to the people of Samaria (John 4:4–42).
Here in this parable the source of assistance was not a kinsman or fellow citizen of Israel but a despised Samaritan.
We are reminded that one of the great tragedies of prejudice is that it may separate one from a potential source
of assistance. The compassion of the Samaritan was all the more commendable in that the person he assisted probably
would not have even spoken to him under normal circumstances. Christ has come to break down such division. [Ibid.,
1534, “Kingdom Dynamics: Luke 10:33, Help from a Despised Source.”]
Faith Alive
What specific category of people do you have a problem relating to? As someone from Asian ancestry, perhaps
it is African-Americans who seem to you to be lazy and violent. As a black female, maybe it's blond-haired white
women married to black men. For blue-collar white males, it could be any middle class minorities that got jobs
through affirmative action.
How does God expect you to begin relating to people like this as your neighbor?
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you other people you do not want to be your neighbor. Determine to initiate
a relationship within that group. If the first person doesn't respond favorably, don't give up. Try again.
From Race & Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds, Winning the Harvest by Jack W. Hayford with Greg Howse and Michael Posey. Copyright 1996 by Jack W. Hayford.
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