I am in the process of trying to analyze what the Bible refers to as Neighbor.

The Bible says to Love your Neighbor. It also says that whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me. In the days of the Bible, if it involved a distance of more than 20 miles, the best you could hope to do was send a package or a gift.

The word Neighbor translates to Vecino in Spanish. Vecino is like the word Vicinity. And the direct literal translation from Spanish to English is Near.

A Neighbor is a person who is near. I would say that a neighbor is a person within your Microsphere.

The Bible says to whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me. The least of these would extend to those who you see regularly, but who are considered less by society.

That includes children, women, the poor  and the infirm.

It also extends to strangers and your enemy. But even in these cases, it refers to a stranger that comes to you. And it also addresses an enemy who is near to you.

None of these references for neighbor, least of these, Stranger, or Enemy is a reference to significantly beyond your microsphere. I think this also brings in what the Catholic Church says about subsidiarity, that we are to focus on taking care of things at the most local level.

If we want to deal with what takes place in a foreign land, Jesus sent his disciples out with just their sandals, and not even any food to eat. He did not send  them out with goods as gifts that might influence the receivers.

This model seems most like how the Amish and Mennonites live. The Mennonites have missions, but they mostly go live with the people and be an example. The Amish model does not allow for traveling great distances

Regards

Tom Neugebauer

Seized by Christ