Learning from Jesus – who is my neighbour?
Jesus' answer was to tell the story of the good Samaritan - a story that tells us that neighbours are not just those next door, but simply all humankind. But whilst the example of one compassionate traveller using his resources to help a stranger is one thing, applying the command to the international scene is quite another.
What passed through his mind as he crossed the road? Perhaps the roughed up man lying there would die anyway. And how much time, resources and money would caring for him take? Passing by on the other side, particularly if no one is watching, can seem very attractive.
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, based on a convincing global scientific consensus, challenges us to serious neighbour-loving. For individuals in the well-resourced west it is easy to carry on as we are, hoping that someone else will sort out the problem of global warming, whether through Richard Branson's £12 million reward for a new technology or the rapid deployment of large umbrellas. Do we really believe that London, not to mention New York and a large part of Bangladesh, might be under water before the lives of today's twelve year olds are over? New reports on the polar ice caps suggest we should. Yet little we can do, personally or nationally, will have much effect on the outcome. The path of economic growth seems to be leading to a calamity that will destroy livelihoods, lives, cultures and cities, and create a tide of environmental refugees that will dwarf all previous population movements.
The challenge is there and we are called to act in neighbour-love, whatever the outcome. How should we respond? First, like the Samaritan, we 'cross the road' and take the small personal steps, involving our households, shopping, travel and so on. Second, we encourage our churches and workplaces to be environmentally friendly. Third, we support the political and practical actions of NGOs like Tearfund. Fourth, we support political parties who are prepared to push through appropriate, but drastic and uncomfortable, measures, however much they hurt us. The Samaritan did every thing he could. Jesus said, 'Go and do likewise'.
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