Global Responsibility: Loving Our Neighbor???

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”

These are the words of the Christ to His disciples and this is the second in the two greatest commandments, as the “entire law” hinge on these. I often wonder am I loving enough or from what aspect am I loving? I once heard someone say “Jesus cares for the whole person, spiritual, emotionally and physically and we are to likewise care for the whole person”. This is not to rally around some social issue or to get on the side of politicians to rally for some political cause. Nope! This is a responsibility given to us individually as parts of Christ’s body and collectively as the body of Christ.

So I am not talking about joining a cause for “global warming” or voting for a politician who is concerned about some part of the world, but I am talking about taking ownership over the love for our neighbor and loving them like Jesus has loved us.

This got me thinking about some of the basic things I enjoy day to day, with really no care of where they came from, how they were produced or who produced them, not the environment and the treatment of those who produced them. So I am going to talk about some things, not from a legalistic perspective, but from something to ponder.

We are often times blind to our fellow man and his/her human condition and often times we contribute to the horrible conditions many find themselves in. Here is what God told the prophet to tell the people of Israel:

6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with  thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

“Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands rivers of oil”?  The answer is definitely not, because He wants us to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly” with Him.

So back to the conditions. Some of the things we enjoy are produced by people who take full advantage of others, things from our shoes, our clothes, our beverages (coffee), jewelry (diamonds) and other such materials. Here is the question, are we to sink our heads in the sand and say this isn’t our problem, or are we responsible for the products we purchase? Should we care? Should we just say it is part of the economic and social conditions we find ourselves in? I don’t know, I was thinking about this after listening to the production of the Iphone . And after buying a cup of coffee . I don’t know, I was really thinking about this and was trying to filter this through the New Commandment of love. Whats your thoughts?