It's weird that you use this kind of phrasing. "Being neighborly" isn't the same as loving your neighbor, at least, not in the context that Jesus described it in the parable of the Samaritan. Being neighborly is a colloquialism which essentially means that you simply be polite to your neighbors. You say good morning if you see them on your way to work. You let them borrow a cup of sugar if they come asking. You say you're fine when they ask how you are and you turn a blind eye if they steal a pen from work; that kind of thing.
It's almost like you're trying to minimize what it means to love your neighbor. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. I have a penchant for expressing myself in a grumpy way, so I don't want to come across as just dumping on you. I don't know if you watched the video but in the exchange between Jesus the and lawyer who instigated this parable, the lawyer asked what he must do to be saved. Jesus rejoined by asking him what the law says. The lawyer correctly responded that he should love God and his neighbor. Jesus replied, "Yeah, that's right. Do that".
The lawyer's pride was hurt by such a simple answer. He seemed to expect some kind of argument. Instead, the simplicity of Jesus' answer made his challenge look foolish, so he tried to justify himself by retorting, "who is my neighbor"!
In response, Jesus told the parable. You seem to be doing something similar with this "be neighborly" thing; it's like you feel offended.
Hello again John, because I'm disagreeing with some of what your saying doesn't mean that I'm offended, I simply believe that you are wrong in those areas, that's all (I'm not offended, just to be clear
) Nor do I feel like you are "dumping on me" (and I appreciate the fact that you are not
).
It's not as easy to discern what people are really trying to say in online discussions, because we don't have facial and vocal inflections to help us (or body language, which is helpful as well). So let's take the time to make sure that we are understanding each other, particularly when something that one of us says seems odd
Getting back to your post now, I believe that you are correct about the lawyer's pride being hurt, as he certainly realized that he 'should' have known the answer to his own question w/o asking Jesus!
That said, let's take another look at the exchange that the lawyer had with the Lord. The lawyer asked Jesus what he needed to do
to inherit eternal life, and the Lord answered Him with a question (because He knew that as a lawyer in 1st Century Israel, he was an expert in the Law of God and should have known the answer to the question before he asked it).
The thing is, take a close look at his (Scriptural) answer to Jesus' probing question. Do you believe that the lawyer was capable of doing what the Bible (and the Lord) told him that he needed to do to inherit eternal life? (see the text in bold below) Is anyone, except for Jesus, capable of doing so? Do you believe that you could? In fact, have you ever done so even once in your entire life? I know that I haven't been able to!!
Of course, even if someone was able to do so "once", "once" will not do the trick, even if such a feat was possible. Rather, you would need to do so in the same way Jesus did, perfectly/without fail, from birth to death, because if you didn't, you would need Him to be your Savior instead of your guide.
IOW, works righteousness only "works"/makes someone "righteous" if that someone actually "keeps" the entire Law .. perfectly .. e.g.
James 2:10-11.
Of course, since the text tells us that the lawyer immediately sought to "
justify himself" (concerning the loving of his neighbor that he wasn't doing), we know that he knew that he hadn't loved his neighbor as he should have. And realizing that he failed the easy test, that of loving his neighbor as himself, he didn't even bother trying to justify himself about his lack of love for God.
Luke 10
25 A lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27 And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; DO THIS AND YOU WILL LIVE.
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Finally, the NT tells us this (see below) about salvation (not to be cruel, but because of concern that people need to know truth about salvation). The last passage below is from the Apostle Peter, the first two verses are from the Lord Himself.
John 3
18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 14
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.
Acts of the Apostles 4
12 There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”
--David
James 2
10 Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point, he has become guilty of all of it.
11 For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.