William Nunnally
The current societal view that some lives matter more than others in America which is the opposite of America’s foundation that is based on Almighty God’s view of humanity. Biblical people know that God’s relationship with humanity is the ultimate equality in which all lives and all souls are equal in God’s sight. God sent Jesus to become a sacrifice for all of humanity since all have sinned and all will stand before the judgment seat when all leave this life.
Therefore, Christians (Baptized Disciples of Jesus) or BDOJs have a responsibility to form and sustain a peaceful and egalitarian society because of Jesus’ words to the apostles. Jesus commissioned his disciples to “Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, AND teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” Obviously, unbaptized disciples are not obeying everything Jesus commanded his apostles. Obeying Jesus directions is the BDOJ charge in every situation, including relations with every soul.
So, what are Jesus’ directions on interacting with every other soul? Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment of the Biblical world and replied in Matthew 22:37-40:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the Biblical foundation for all cultural relations and is the true foundation of America. In America, all neighbor lives matter. The Biblical foundation for society is found in the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament and the words of Jesus in the New Testament which encompass the Ten Commandments. Thus, BDOJ’s are commanded to make neighbor lives matter as they matter to Almighty God.
The problem in today’s society is that the words, “Love” is not well understood or employed because of the diversity of the meaning of the word “Love” in the Bible text. Biblical neighborly love is not an erotic relationship and it is not brotherly or family or tribal relationship. The Greek word most (>98%) translated as love in the New Testament is ”agape” which is a relationship that is implemented by the heart, the soul, the mind and the strength of a disciple. Agape love of a neighbor is a decision of the disciple’s will to treat every soul as they themselves want to be treated or the “golden rule”. Agape Love is “equality love” in that the disciple is to consider the needs of the other soul as his or her own. Agape Love is also the “tough Love” of the parent child relationship in which the parent seeks the best interest of the child. The parent does not give the child everything the child desires but gives the child what is best, warns the child of things that are detrimental to their long-term health and teaches the child how to develop their own values and actions. Not teaching a child or any soul of the dangers of an acclivity and how to avoid the consequences is not love of any kind. Agape teaching is equality love.
The BDOJ relationship with every soul is an Agape relationship in which disciples of Jesus are not Almighty God’s judge and jury and thus do not convict and condemn. BDOJs are only messengers of God’s wrath against all unrighteousness and simultaneously messengers of God’s Agape love that provides the way to eternal life through Jesus sacrifice. To gently and respectfully inform a soul of the coming wrath of God is not hate, but Agape love that seeks the best eternal outcome for all souls.
The first step in employing Agape love is to understand who is your neighbor. Jesus was asked how to determine who is your neighbor and presented the parable of the Good Samaritan. The story of the Good Samaritan tells us that anyone a person encounters during this life who needs mercy and compassion is a neighbor or essentially everyone a BDOJ encounters.
It is important to remember that Justice, Mercy and Grace are the response of Almighty God in judging human righteousness. Justice is the situation when a law is broken and the perpetrator receives the full punishment defined by the law from the judge. Mercy is when the punishment of the perpetrator for breaking a law is reduced by the judge. Grace is when the entire transgression of the law is erased completely, even without perpetrator merit, because of the compassion of the judge. Thus, to a BDOJ, their neighbors are those who need compassion and mercy, especially those they encounter that are a victim of transgressions of others, independent of their personal transgressions.
Note that in Jesus’ parable of the Samaritan, a religious official (Priest) and an elite member of society (Pharisee) did not have compassion or mercy for the needs of the victim, but walked by on the other side. The Samaritan had compassion and mercy to help the savaged soul to stand and be treated and cared for his situation, before he went on his way. The Samaritan also checked on the savaged soul to make sure his treatment was completed and he could continue on his own. The Samaritan did not judge if the savaged soul was worthy of his assistance, he did not condemn the savaged soul for his situation, he just had compassion and provided what was needed.
In fact, compassion can be defined as seeing yourself in the situation of others and then treating them as you would want to be treated in their situation. Thus, compassion is the Biblical act of loving your neighbor as yourself. Almighty God had compassion on human souls and sent Jesus into the world to see all of us in a bad situation and to be a sacrificial atonement for our sins. Thus, BDOJs are to have compassion for those we encounter and show mercy for those that need our assistance, just as Jesus has commanded. In fact, “Agape your neighbor as yourself” is the best definition of compassion and equality.
Yes, all neighbors matter to BDOJs because ALL souls matter to Jesus and Almighty God!
Copyright © William Nunnally 7-1-2020.