Like a Good Neighbor

I give you that title line and I bet you can sing the rest of it. "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." That's advertising for you. Scripture talks about neighbors, too. There is the obvious one: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:39) And, of course, Jesus had an expansive definition of "neighbor." In His "Good Samaritan" parable He asked, "Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" (Luke 10:36) The answer was so obvious that even the unbelievers got it. The neighbor, then, biblically, is whomever you come in contact with. Taking that "love your neighbor" thing, then, in terms of "whomever you come in contact with," there is certainly more on our neighbors in the Bible.

A major section is in Proverbs. Solomon writes about how we should act toward neighbors. "Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, 'Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it' when you have it with you." (Prov 3:27-28) While this is couched in the negative -- "Do not" -- it is cast into the positive. Don't withhold ... give. Don't delay ... give now. Like "Do unto others ..." (Luke 6:31). It's about what we're supposed to do more than about what we're not supposed to do. Solomon, then, urges us to do good to those when it is in our power to do so and to give aid without delay. Like a good neighbor.

It seems like this isn't as common as you might think. If it was, wouldn't there be fewer poor, sick, and lonely? If we were natural good neighbors, wouldn't the needy be having their needs met? State Farm advertises that, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." That is, "When you need us, we're there." Yet, how much of that is true of our neighbors? Should we be saying, instead, "Like State Farm, good neighbors are there"? More importantly, how about you? How about me? Pointing out bad neighbors is low hanging fruit. Am I a good neighbor? Do I do good to those to whom I can and without delay? Am I like State Farm? Or, rather, am I the neighbor God wants me to be?