And Who Is My Neighbor?
By Luke Mayer, Class of 2027
A couple of weeks ago we took a break from our weekly Brookstone visits and instead took a tour of East Charlotte while meditating on the story of the Good Samaritan. During our walk, we were challenged to consider whom Jesus calls our neighbor and what it would look like to live out the truth of Matthew 22:39 by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
Growing up in Sunday school, I became well acquainted with the story of the Good Samaritan. The moral self-righteousness of the Pharisee and the Levite contrasted with the shocking compassion of the hated Samaritan. However, like most of Jesus’ parables, the Good Samaritan is much easier to talk about than to live out. Ask me what the meaning of the parable is, and I would say, “Jesus is calling us to show mercy and love to all our neighbors, especially, those who are nothing like us.” Now ask me how I have lived this truth out recently, and I’d probably blankly stare back at you.
Touring different nonprofits and going on the walk through East Charlotte has forced me to step outside the bubble I so often find myself in. Experiencing the broader Charlotte community has expanded my understanding of the work the Lord is doing in the city and given me the opportunity to serve my neighbors. Beyond that, these opportunities have opened the door to conversations with fellow Charlotte residents whose experiences differ from my own and whom I would never have met if I had stayed within a community of similar individuals.
One of my favorite C. S. Lewis quotes comes from The Four Loves, where he discusses how, through each person we meet, we catch a new glimpse of God’s character that we would not have seen on our own. He writes, “For every person is a unique reflection of God’s image, and in the case of friends, we see how one friend can bring out a side of another friend that we could never evoke on our own... By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; all the circle of friends is needed to do that.”
Serving neighbors who are unlike me reveals more of the Lord’s heart than I would ever see if I only sought to understand those similar to myself. By understanding others’ perspectives, I not only learn to step into their shoes but also begin to appreciate the beauty of the intellectual and cultural diversity of the kingdom of God. Over the next year, I will continue to ask the Lord who my neighbor is and seek to learn from the experiences of those He leads me to.