Who Is My Neighbor?

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [1]

Christian, it is essential to remember that God's work since Creation has been sustaining his creative work and the salvation of vile men. Since the death and resurrection of Christ, we have learned that salvation is not earned or otherwise obtained but as a gift from God. However, the work of God does not merely end with the salvation of the Christian person. In most cases, we consider the work yet to be done the work of sanctification. This is the lifelong pilgrimage the Christian person makes in continued repentance and guidance from the Holy Spirit (and hopefully in the communion of men far more mature in Christ than himself). This is God’s grace on those brought to repentance so that no man may boast.

The concept of redemption is commonly associated with salvation itself. The terms are used interchangeably in most contexts. Here, however, I want to bring light to the concept of redemption from the perspective of Jewish theologian Franz Rosenzweig. In his Magnum opus, The Star of Redemption, Rosenzweig describes the relationship between God-World-Man. In his view, redemption is the relationship between the world and man after,

[...] the soul is declared of age, departs the paternal home of divine love, and sets forth into the world. [2]

Here, the difference between Jew and Christian is no longer important. While the Christian will not concede salvation through Christ alone, he has no authority to deny the commandment. Once saved, it is no longer a matter of salvation, and the Christian should worry himself with obeying he who has so gracefully taken his place in death. The only question is, who is my neighbor?

Love thy neighbor. That is as the Jew and Christian assure us, the embodiment of all commandments. [3]

You might wonder, why mention Rosenzweig and Jewish theology if Paul reiterates this command to us in his letter to the Galatians? The answer is simple. Christian congregations are plagued with two issues that should not be ignored:

1) There is often enmity among the congregants–to put it bluntly.

This is a problem in itself that must be addressed. The leaders of these congregations are right to point this out and constantly remind their congregants that the command is to love others. The hostility among congregation members is damaging to church cohesion and should go without saying that the ongoing situation makes members insensitive to their sins. Fortunately for us, the advancement of God’s kingdom very little depends on our ability to love others. Nevertheless, this is an ongoing problem that church leaders have to learn to address as early as possible. For our sake, this issue is problematic because it has blinded our ability to answer the question of who the neighbor is.

2) The constant infighting has caused church leaders and preachers to leave behind a complete understanding of the command to love one’s neighbor.

This is where Rosenzweig’s understanding of redemption seems all the more helpful. He understands redemptive activity as the departing from God’s paternal love to enter the world. The key word here is the world. Our squabbles have made us so near-sided that we struggle to love even our brethren, much less those who remain without God’s light. We have taken the command to love that person nearest to us and replaced that with a command to get along amongst ourselves, that is, with members of our congregations. The problem is that the command is not to love other Christians, though it is evident that we should. In the Star of Redemption, Rosenzweig uses the terms Locum Tenens for the neighbor.

Thus the neighbor, is as stated, only locum tenens. Love goes out to whatever is nighest to it as to a representative, in the fleeting moment of its presentness, and thereby in truth to the all-inclusive concept of all men and all things which could ever assume this place of being its nighest neighbor. [4]

The Latin can more accurately describe the true nature of the command as the outpouring of love towards whoever so happens to be next to us at any given time. This command cannot mean exclusively to love your fellow church member, though, many times the term brother is used when discussing whom we should love. The command to love our neighbor (Proximus) suggests that this is not exclusively a command to love your fellow church members. Of course, we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and yes, we should do so despite the quarrels. The issue at hand, however, is that testimony does not only belong among Christians; it is something that must go out into the world. To love my neighbor must also mean to love the men of this world who know not of saving grace.

For Rosenzweig and Saint Augustine, to love others was not only the right thing to do (It is a command, after all), but it is also one way, apart from the redeeming work of Christ, through which we can know God. To love is a choice for us, but God is Love, and by loving others, we also come closer to God. So, we have here our conclusion: To love God is to love that person God has so graciously put before me that I may humble myself and give testimony to the love of Christ by loving them no matter the difficulty. The challenge here is reconciling the New Testament language of loving one’s brother and the command to love one’s neighbor. Regardless of that challenge, the interpretation here aligns with the command to go out [into the world] and preach the gospel.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot (1) love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. [5]

Footnotes

[1] Galatians 5:14 (ESV)

[2] [3] Rosenzweig, Franz. The Star of Redemption (p. 205). University of Notre Dame Press. Kindle Edition.

[4] Rosenzweig, Franz. The Star of Redemption (p. 218). University of Notre Dame Press. Kindle Edition.

[5] 1 John 4:20–21 --4:20 Some manuscripts *how can he* (ESV)