Who is My Neighbor?

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My interactions with Jim left me with a number of questions that I continue to struggle with to this day. What does hospitality look like for those who profess to be Christians? Should Christians be trying to work harder towards better relationships with the other and those who believe differently than us? Is pluralism a plausible concept? What is my role as a pastor in leading the congregation in a time of Joys and concerns? As a pastor, how do I respond to Jim’s claims when I feel so passionately about interfaith relations? Who is my neighbor? The main focus of this project will be the challenge that Christians face to be witnesses of their faith in an increasingly pluralistic world. To examine these issues and questions, I will be looking at them from a wide variety of lenses including scriptural, theological, doctrinal, historical, and pastoral care.

Hospitality in the Scriptures
Who is my neighbor? What is hospitality? In light of it’s importance to the formation of Christian doctrine and is the basis of how Christians should live their everyday lives, I will first look to scripture to interpret this situation. Throughout the entire Bible, many passages give examples of hospitality and how the “other” should be treated and I believe that this is a good place to begin interpreting this situation. The first scriptural narrative that informs this situation is one of the many teachings of Jesus that highlights the love and acceptance that he often preached.
Throughout the incidences that occurred in our worship services and during the conversation between Jim and myself, one of the questions that kept coming up in my mind was “Who exactly is my neighbor?” Because of this, I believe the Parable of the Good Samaritan in...

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...ncounters, we should also believe that the Holy Spirit would work transformatively in the lives of the non-Christians that we are in dialogue with. When we practice a theology of hospitality that allows the Holy Spirit to move, we are being hospitable to both the Christian and the non-Christian. The Christian does not have to lower or give up their Christology or make exceptions to their faith and the non-Christian allowed the space and grace to let the Spirit move as the Spirit moves.
One of the most important suggestions that Yong gives is that true hospitality does not simply involve dialogue between religions. True hospitality requires works of love and mercy. When Christians, like Jim, speak negatively about other religions and their followers, there is no room for the Spirit to move. In turn, this completely closes the door on any kind of hospitality.

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