Our Three Neighborhoods

A Paris neighborhood at sunset

I have categorized our neighbors into three relationship groups which I will call neighborhoods. Each neighborhood will be introduced based on its proximity and importance to you. Everyone in your life is equally important to God, but hopefully not everyone is equally important to you, because…well, you’re not God.

We all need a nudge to help us identify who our priorities are. God is not silent or subtle on who deserves our time and attention first. Read More

While Mark Dance's categorization of neighbors into three relationship groups has value, his retelling of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is off. The man who was attacked by robbers, beaten, and left for dead was not a Samaritan. He was a Jew. The man who came to his aid was not a fellow Jew but a Samaritan. The priest and the Levite who did not stop to help him were Jews. Jesus' original audience would not have faulted them for avoiding what they thought was a corpse lying in the road. Touching a corpse would have rendered them ritually unclean and unfit to serve in the Temple.