Entry 4

What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:18

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 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."
Matthew 22:37-40

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:35-40



The notion of loving our neighbors is numerously addressed in the Bible both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We, as Christians and humans, don’t have the right to see the primitive cultures in a different view, because everyone is the same in God’s eyes. Although many people do acknowledge this idea, we can’t deny that it is our innate nature where judging cannot be eradicated. Cannibalism is certainly an unfamiliar word to us, where it only comes out in historical fiction novels or movies. Also, it is quite comprehensive why people may want repel themselves from this gruesome tradition. However, just because they are different from us, we shouldn’t underestimate them, treat them as animals, nor attempt to train them to be “human-like” by invading their boundaries. We can't choose how we feel, but we can choose what we do about it. We should set our minds parallel to the minds of the foreign and challenge ourselves to scrutinize their lifestyles and characters even if it is different from our convictions. We should approach them with love, as Don Richardson has, as neighbors, and invite them or expect them to invite us in to their “world”. That is the way we can serve God at the same time by loving our brothers and sisters, who are in a serious predicament where life is easily triggered and where such profane act is continued. It’s morally wrong and biblically violated to destroy God’s creation with knives, blades, fire, and treachery. We have to learn how to love them, and they have to learn how to love each other. That is definitely what God wants and commands us to demonstrate.