Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself (E-Book)

L o v e T h y N e i g h b o r A s T h y s e l f |1
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS

THYSELF
Sharing Christs Love with

Others
Jesse Jackson Mirega
Inspire the Soul, Transform Lives

Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself

ISBN: 978-9966-1790-9-8
E- Book Copyright 2016 by Jesse Jackson Mirega
E-mail: jessejmirega@gmail.com / jessemirega@yahoo.com
Web: jessejacksonmirega.wordpress.com
Published in Kenya by The Potters Diaries

P. O. Box 17659 00100, Nairobi
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +254723902984/ +254772670624
E-mail: thepottersdiaries@gmail.com
Web: thepottersdiaries.wordpress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any
form or by any means i.e. electronic, photocopy, recording or
otherwise without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
Dedication
To my siblings Ruth, Mary, Joan, Steve and Titus whose

love and care have taught me how to love and care for
others.
Acknowledgement
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to a number of
people who have been great inspiration in penning the
contents of this book. My first appreciation goes to the
almighty God who has given me the wisdom and the
ability to put these words to paper.
Special appreciations also go to my family; my mum, my
siblings and my wife Lynet Muoka who have been great
sources of help and inspiration.
Finally, I want to appreciate my late father Dr. Samson
Mirega who taught me that despite the many hurdles one
has to jump in life; you can still find hope in a better and
rewarding future. You were a great pillar in the shaping
of my destiny. May your soul rest in eternal peace.
January 2016
JESSE JACKSON MIREGA
Contents
Introduction 6
1. Who is My Neighbor 12
2. Christianity and Other Religions 29
3. Christs Demonstration of Love 48
4. Holistic Healing 63
5. In Christs Footsteps 78
References 91
INTRODUCTION
When we take a look around us and across the entire

world we see people who are struggling to co-exist
peacefully with their neighbors. Throughout history
weve heard of wars and endless conflicts as nations,
races and communities rise up against each other. This
may cause one to wonder whether there was ever a time
when people dwelt peacefully with their neighbors.
In living among people of different races, status in the

society and different ethnic backgrounds, Ive come to
realize that there is much strife for power, wealth and
control. This makes people become so selfish and only
think of themselves and how they can satisfy their
desires at the expense of others.
On the other hand I can say that faith and religion as a

whole has played a major role in setting up standards and
morals by which societies try to live peacefully amongst
each other. But these set standards are hardly ever
observed with the seriousness that they deserve. The
only way therefore to sort out the conflicts in the world
is to turn back to the creator himself and find out what

He intended for His created world and what he expects
of those who live in it.
When we look at the story of the creation in Genesis 1

and 2 we realize that God had a perfect plan for the
coexistence of both man and beast in the world that He
had created. This perfect order was distorted by the
invasion of sin into the world through the disobedience
of Adam and Eve. Once sin had its place in the world, an
imbalance was created on earth that affected the
existence of the entire creation.
It is very clear that God could not stop Adam and Eve
from sinning because of the free will which He gave
them so He warned them of the consequences they
would face if ever they chose to disobey Him. After their
disobedience, God drove Adam and Eve out of the
Garden of Eden and had them face the consequences of
their sins. But this did not mean that God was done with
them. In fact God started devising a way of restoring the
broken relationship between Him and humanity.
So throughout the Bible from the book of Genesis all the

way to Revelation we see God on a mission to restore
the fallen created order. This is evident by the call of
Noah, then Abraham, then the election of the people of
Israel and eventually the promise of a messiah who
would die for the sake of the sins of the world. In all
these we see one evident characteristic that God showed
throughout His actions. We see how much He loved the
world and His creation that He chose to take the place of
man on the cross in order to save him from the wrath and
consequences of his sins.
It is on such a background that the person and mission of

Jesus Christ in this world are built. By studying the
teachings and life of Jesus Christ which culminates in his
death on the cross and eventual resurrection, we realize
how much this divine attribute of God which is love is
displayed and demonstrated in every event that
surrounded the life of Christ. Everything about Jesus
Christ echoed the love of God for humanity.
From his paraphrase of the Ten Commandments we see

Jesus explaining that all the other commandments rested
on two issues alone, that is the love of God and the love
of ones neighbor. From the teachings of Christ as well
as other scriptures we see Gods demonstration to us on
how we can live in righteousness by loving Him and our
neighbors.
It is easier for us to say as Christians how much we love

God and how much we can sacrifice for His sake, yet it
is so difficult to love other people created in the same
image of God with the same measure that we claim to
love God. The apostle St. John also in his first letter
explains that there is no way we can claim to love God
whom we havent seen if we cant even love our own
brothers who we see every day. (1 John 4:20)
How then can we love one another as God expects us to?

To answer this question we have to study the life and
teachings of Jesus Christ and then walk in his footsteps
as God expects us to. Jesus came to live among us to
demonstrate to us the love of God and teach us how to
L o v e T h y N e i g h b o r A s T h y s e l f | 10
love and care for one another including the less

deserving. In fact we can take Jesus as a perfect example
of demonstration of love for both God and our
neighbors.
In this book I have attempted to look at some of Jesus

teachings and acts of love by way of his life as a
demonstration to his disciples and the communities
which he came across concerning Gods love. By
studying the life and teachings of Jesus Christ we learn
so much about Gods love and how to care for others as
the people of God who are created in His own image.
Jesus teaches us exactly how to share the love of God
with other people thereby drawing those lost in sin
towards Him and experience the same love.
This book therefore brings a Christian to much more

awareness of Christs perspective of the world and how
to show love and kindness to others regardless of their
faith, opinions or status in the society.
It helps a Christian share the love of Christ with other

people whether they believe in Christ and his teachings
or not, whether they deserve to be loved or not and as a

result help them see the person of Christ in the life of a
Christian and the entire body of Christ which is the
church. If there is a core for the mission of Christians,
then I would say that it is the act of sharing the love of
Christ with others.
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?
_____________________________________________
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

The context of this parable is placed in a time when a
certain lawyer who is intrigued by Jesus teachings
asks him what he must do to inherit eternal life. As a
custom Jesus asks him what the law says and he quotes
the summary of the law. As Jesus commends him for
answering correctly and advises him to do as the law
says he asks yet another question about who his neighbor
is. Jesus answered by narrating this parable.
To understand the parable of the Good Samaritan and its

lessons, it is necessary to know and study the context in
which the parable was told. This is to study the intended
audience, their cultures and belief systems, and the
reason why Jesus used the example of the Good
Samaritan. Putting the Jewish history into perspective we
understand that the Samaritan community was formed as
a result of the fall of the two Jewish kingdoms in the

hands of the Babylonians.
Intermarriages between the Jewish people and the

foreigners who they came across while in exile gave
birth to the Samaritan community. This is the reason
why the Jewish people saw them as a lesser race or
ethnic group in the sight of God. This was mainly
because all the other communities that were not Jewish
were considered pagan and anyone who got into any
relation with them would defile himself and therefore
bring shame to the chosen people of God who are the
Israelites.
When we look at the narrative of the Good Samaritan we

see four key characters in the story. That is the victim of
the robbers, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. All
these four people play a significant role in the moral of
the story of Jesus Christ. From the story we get that both
the priest and the Levite passed by the wounded man
without offering any assistance but only the Samaritan
took time to tend to his needs.
Let us assume that the wounded man was a Jew since he

was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. What would be
the priests and Levites reason of not bothering to help?
The first reason therefore, that would come to ones
mind concerning their behavior is that of fear.
This is because as it is recorded in this portion of

scripture both the priest and the Levite upon seeing the
wounded man opted to pass by the other side of the road.
Maybe they were afraid that the robbers might still be
around and would probably attack them too.
But if we consider their excuses by using the lens of

Jewish customs, we would come across various
explanations. According to the laws of Moses a priest is
not supposed to make himself unclean by coming in
contact with a dead body except his close relative
whereby certain rituals still had to be conducted
(Leviticus 21:1-4;11). The contact would make the priest
unclean and therefore hinder him from performing his
priestly duties. The same applied to all the Levites and
the descendants of Aaron who served in the temple.
Taking this explanation into consideration we may

deduce that both the priest and the Levite assumed that
the man may probably be dead already and that they
didnt want to break the Law by defiling themselves with
a dead body. It may have been a valid excuse but
elsewhere we see Jesus condemning such kinds of
behavior depicted by the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law (Matthew 23:2-3; 27).
On the other hand when we consider the audience of

Jesus, a Samaritan would be the last person on their
mind to offer assistance to this man. According to their
mind sets, both Jews and Samaritans always try to avoid
each other because of the stereotypical prejudices. So it
would be normal for another ordinary Jew to come up
and assist the wounded man but this was not to be.
Jesus use of a Samaritan as the savior of the wounded

man is very strategic. It gives a clear example not only of
a good neighbor but also one who shows love that goes
beyond ethnic segregation and stereotypes. The
Samaritan on seeing the wounded man shows much love
for him by tending to his wounds without caring about

the mans race and status or whether there is still some
danger lurking in the thicket.
The example that we see in the Good Samaritan shows

us someone who takes care of a wounded stranger as if
he was his own brother. He even goes an extra mile to
pay for his accommodation and upkeep at a local inn.
This is the kind of love that Jesus wanted his audience at
the time to show to their neighbors. It even explained in
a better way that your neighbor doesnt have to be
someone you know or one who is close to you. It can
even be a perfect stranger.
Gods Chosen People and Their Neighbors

Having looked and studied the parable of the Good
Samaritan, we realize that Jesus is addressing a people
who have a particular mindset that is clouded with
various prejudices and stereotypes. This may be due to
their historical and religious background as the Jewish
community. Some of these prejudices may be as a result
of the teachings they got from the laws and the prophets.
To understand this it is therefore necessary to take a

historical look at how they coexisted with their
neighbors till the time of Christ.
The story of the people of Israel is introduced to us in the

Bible through one man named Abraham. It begins with a
call in Genesis 12 where God calls Abraham to serve
Him and the eventual covenant between the two in
Genesis 15. God promises Abraham that he will be a
father of many nations and He will be his God. The first
time we come across the name Israel is in Genesis 32:28
where God changes the name of Jacob (Abrahams
grandson) to Israel after wrestling with an angel.
The nation of Israel therefore begins with the three

patriarchs namely; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or Israel.
Their story or history is important to us as Christians in
that they are Gods chosen people and out of their race
or community came the messiah that all Christians
believe in. In fact all the Laws and doctrines of the
Christian church are centered on the laws of Moses, the
teachings of the prophets and the apostles of Christ who

were all Jews.
From the laws of Moses we find instructions to the

people of Israel on how they should interact with their
neighbors and this affects even the Christians relations
with their neighbors today. The first distinction we see
between the Israelites and their neighbors is seen in the
act of circumcision which is a sign of their covenant with
God (Genesis 17:9-14). This sign of the covenant locked
out other communities from having free relations with
the people of Israel since the uncircumcised people were
considered pagan and unclean.
Such directions and beliefs may be the reason why

Jacobs sons were furious when a Hivite prince,
Shechem raped their sister Dina and attempted to acquire
her for marriage (Genesis 34:1-31). According to
Dinahs brothers Shechem committed two grave offenses
which were unheard of in Israel. First he forced himself
on Dina and again he went against their customs since he
was not a Jew and therefore uncircumcised.
As a result of this Jacobs sons resorted to deception in

order to punish the Hivites since unremorseful Shechem
wanted their sisters hand in marriage. They demanded
that all the Hivite men including Shechem be
circumcised according to Jewish customs before they
could intermarry and this offer seemed to please the
Hivites. While they were still nursing their wounds
Dinas brothers Simeon and Levi ambushed them and
killed every male Hivite in the city.
This is a first of a series of conflicts we see between the

Israelites and their neighbors. In most cases the conflicts
arose along lines of religious beliefs and customs. This
went on for a long time and in other incidents we see
God punishing the Israelites for violating the laws by
getting into unholy relations or unions with their
neighbors. This may have set precedence for many
prejudices and stereotypes between the people of Israel
and their neighbors.
By the time Christ came into the world there was clear
hostility between the Jews and non-Jews. It is in this
kind of background that Christ laid the foundation of his

teachings of love even for ones enemies. In todays
society Christians still face challenges brought by similar
stereotypes and prejudices that the people of Israel had
throughout their history.
When we look back at the story of the Good Samaritan

we realize that there is more that needs to be done in
order for neighboring communities to coexist peacefully.
In order to do this we need to consider other experiences
that the Israelites had with their neighbors and how God
instructed them to deal with the situations.
The next big story about the Israelites and their

neighbors is their experience as slaves in Egypt. The
main challenge that they had is that their right to worship
their God freely had been altered. We know that their
faith in God and His promises through Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob is what brought the people of Israel together.
This is why the subject of worship was at the center of
Moses negotiations with the Pharaoh to release the
Israelites (Exodus7:16).
As the Israelites came out of Egypt we see God giving

them a set of laws and commandments that would guide
them on matters of worship and their relationship with
other people both within and without the community of
Israel. It is some of these laws that later generated
conflicts between the Israelites and their neighbors since
they leaned heavily on Gods promise of the land of
Canaan as an inheritance. The reason for these conflicts
is that the Promised Land was actually inhabited by
other communities and it was the duty of the Israelites to
drive them out or completely wipe them out of existence.
The conflict of land however is not unique to the people

of Israel alone but is very common in our society today.
Most of the conflicts that we come across in our society
usually center on land and property and may even go
back to many past generations. There might only be a
slight difference to the case of the Israelites whose
ancestors did not previously inhabit the land which was
promised to them.
The uniqueness of the Israelites as a community however

comes as Gods plan of redeeming the entire human race
from the slavery of sin. So God chose the people of
Israel as people who would worship Him and through
them salvation would come to the world. Considering
the numerous conflicts that they had with their
neighbors, one would wonder how salvation would have
come through the people of Israel.
The plan of God was simple, to choose a people who

would worship Him in truth and have constant
fellowship with Him. This was with the idea of restoring
the relationship between God and humanity that was lost
in the Garden of Eden. But it does not stop there since
the fall of Adam also caused a rift in the relationship
between humans themselves.
By showing them His love, God wanted the Israelites to

love Him and one another out of their own free will but
this seemed a great task especially in regard to their
neighbors. The Israelites therefore ignored the warnings
of the prophets and the teachings of the law concerning
sin and went ahead to disobey Gods laws. The attempt

to facilitate reconciliation therefore seemed futile but
Gods plan of redemption had just begun.
From the proclamation of the prophets we know of the

promise of the messiah who would eventually become
Gods perfect demonstration of love. As much as the
Israelites were constantly disobedient to God, they had
no problem relating with Him.
The main problem they had concerned their relationship

with their neighbors. Jesus Christ therefore, who is a Jew
was the perfect person to challenge the Israelites on their
worldviews and opinions about their neighbors
especially those who were non-Jews.
We understand that the Jews had a one-sided perspective

on how to relate with their neighbors and this influenced
their sphere of life. Since they followed the laws of
Moses and the commandments to the letter, Jesus
teachings and demonstration of love for God and
neighbors with reference to the laws and the prophets
therefore gave a totally different understanding and
meaning to the Jewish audience who listened to his

teachings.
Christians today however have a tendency of sidelining

or looking down upon those who dont profess faith in
Jesus Christ and would therefore prioritize on assisting
people of the same faith since the former are regarded as
unholy. This makes Christians no different from the
historical Jewish community who considered other
communities that did not worship the true God as pagans
and therefore unholy.
Christ therefore brings a new light into the

commandment on love in that no one is supposed to
judge others but love them the same way God loves us
even though we are full of sin. His teachings about love
therefore change our perception on who our neighbors
are and how we should relate to them and share with
them the love of God. In the long run they help us to
coexist peacefully with our neighbors and in the process
fulfill the will of God for His entire creation as he
intended.
The Early Church

The early church is built on a foundation created by the
apostles of Jesus Christ. When he ascended into heaven
he gave the apostles instructions to go and preach the
gospel to all nations; baptizing them in the name of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
This task is what formed the basis of the mission of the
apostles but challenges eventually occurred when they
came across different people in their missionary
journeys.
The success of the apostles in their missionary work may

be attributed to the love and solidarity which they
showed one another. Their united fellowship and
communion to the extent of selling personal belongings
to take care of each others needs was quite outstanding
(Acts 2:44-47,4:32-37). This act of showing much love
and care for one another may have influenced how they
treated the people they came across who in turn accepted
the Christian faith.
The paradigm however slightly changes when the early

Christian missionaries who were Jewish came into
contact with non-Jews who were of course not
Christians. As one would expect the gospel message
during the times of Christ came with a bias towards non-
Christians who were not Jewish. Since Jesus grew in a
community with such bias, it was common for his
disciples and apostles to face the same challenge.
In the course of his journeys as Jesus was going to Tyre

one day, a Syro-Phoenician woman whose daughter was
possessed by a demon begged him to heal her daughter.
Jesus reply to the woman was that the childrens food
cant be thrown to the dogs (Mark 7:27). But her reply
moved Jesus who obliged to help. This incident clearly
shows how the Jewish people regarded those from other
communities at the time.
The same challenge therefore came to the apostles who

prioritized on preaching the gospel to the Jews first
before the Gentiles. But from visible amazement that
Paul and Barnabas had when gentiles were filled with
the Spirit was a clear indication that they expected the

contrary (Acts 13:46-48).
This was a clear lesson and demonstration to them that

the gospel and love of Christ is for all people whether
Jew or Greek. This gave the apostles new breath and
drives to share the love of Christ with anyone they came
across and who cared to listen to the gospel message.
The expression and demonstration of love by the

apostles in their missionary work gave the apostles much
success since the people they came across could relate
their unique lifestyle with the gospel message. At one
point Paul showed acts of love to those who arrested him
when they were shipwrecked. He gave encouragement
and hopes to the crew aboard the ship and even went to
the extent of warning the centurion who held him in
chains of the sailors impending escape from the ship
(Acts27:27-32). This act was a perfect demonstration of
love to his persecutors.
By studying the life and the experiences of the Christian

missionaries of the early church we come across so
many teachings and demonstrations of Christs love

towards other people. Love should therefore be shown to
and shared with all people regardless of status, race or
even religion. This is the kind of love that Jesus taught
his disciples to have and show one another. He taught
them to love their neighbors as themselves bearing in
mind that their neighbors are not only those acquainted
to them but anyone even a complete stranger.
2
CHRISTIANITY AND OTHER
RELIGIONS
_____________________________________________
Christianity as a religion has its early stages of

development in a society that is focused on a particular
path of monotheism (Worship of one God) which then
spreads out to other communities which are considered
pagans because of their polytheistic beliefs (Worship of
many gods). This gives Christianity a major challenge of
authenticity as the only true religion, save for the
numerous miracles performed by the apostles.
Christianity's main message at the time centered on a

messiah who died and rose from the dead due of the sins
of mankind. This created a challenge of trying to
convince the non believers that 'God' died in place of
man to save them from sin due to His unending love for
them. Otherwise Christian missioners managed to
overcome this challenge eventually and continued
sharing God's love with their neighbors and this led to

the massive growth of the church both in time and
distance.
Christianity through the Centuries

As Christianity took shape in its first century of
existence, its growth was influenced by a series of
factors. The first major influence was political since
Christianity was birthed at a time when the Roman
dominion was the authority in the lands of Europe, Asia
and Africa at the time.
As a result of the Roman dominion, many Jews believed

that the messiah promised by God through the prophets
would come and deliver them from the rule of the
Romans. This is why they had a problem with Jesus
Christ as a messiah who instead of devising a plan to
deliver them from the Roman rule, spoke of a kingdom
out of this world. He even taught about love for enemies
instead of vengeance and liberation.
Some of the disciples who couldn't accept Jesus'

message of love left him because they were disappointed
in him. He only remained with the twelve but eventually

Judas Iscariot betrayed him to the Pharisees. The
teachings of Jesus about love for enemies and his
reaction to his own crucifixion by forgiving his
perpetrators formed a basis for the Christian message of
love.
As the apostles moved out of Jerusalem and out of the

vicinity of the Jewish towns they came across people of
different cultures and faiths. It took wisdom under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit for them to be able to
evangelize to them about the love of Christ and convince
them to become Christians.
The missionary outreach methods of the early Christians

towards the non believers can be said to have been a
major reason for the massive spread of Christianity. The
kind of passion and enthusiasm that they had for the
gospel message baffled many people and this was so
because they were even ready to face persecution and
death for the sake of the gospel.
The other issue that made the apostles win the hearts of
the non believers was the way they treated them. Instead
of condemnation and judgment the apostles showed
them much love and respect. The non Christians in turn
listened to the gospel message and many were converted
to Christianity.
A good example of the kind of relationship that the

apostles had with their audience is the experience of Paul
in Athens. When Paul went to Athens he realized that the
Athenians worshiped many gods (Acts 17:16-32). Paul
didn't condemn The Athenians of their idolatry but
instead used one of their altars to his advantage. In the
beginning he acknowledged that they were a very
religious people then proceeded to speak about the
'Unknown God' whose altar was among those of many
other gods in Athens. Out of respect and love, Paul
talked of this God as the almighty God who created the
heavens and the earth and is the only true God. From the
way he addressed them, he was able to win the hearts of
some of the Athenians who chose to believe his story.
We can learn much from this event especially when we

are dealing with non believers. It is required of us as
Christians to show much love to non believers rather
than judge them and condemn them. This will take us an
extra mile in winning them over to Christ. When we
consider the manifesto of Jesus Christ which he quoted
from the prophet Isaiah in Luke 4:18-19 at the beginning
of his ministry, we realize that it played a major role in
the actions and activities of many Christian missionaries
through the centuries.
Most missionaries collaborated with various social

workers to offer services to the non Christian
communities which they came across. These acts of love
and kindness enabled the missionaries attract the
attention of their listeners towards the gospel message. A
majority of them even converted to Christianity.
By showing much love to the non believers, Christian

missionaries were able to share Christ's love and even
convince their hearers that God indeed loved them so
much to the extent of offering His only son to die for the
sake of their sins. This act of love alone played a major

role in the growth of Christianity throughout the past
centuries.
The Islamic Challenge

Islam is a religion that begun through the prophet
Muhammad around 610AD when he responded to a call
from Allah to be a prophet according to the Quran. This
is about six centuries after the birth of Christianity which
had already started taking shape across the globe.
Although Christianity and Islam share a common
background, especially on the scriptures of the Old
Testament they are the only two religions which have
been most hostile towards each other through the
centuries.
Forster in his writings notes that Christianity, Judaism

and Islam have a lot in common especially on
monotheistic worship, creation and belief in heaven and
hell. Forster says that;
Jews, Christians and Muslims may be said to use the

same name for God: a word which varies slightly in each
of their languages.........people of all three religions

claim that in using this name they speak of the one true
God. And to define Him further, all three would say that
He is the God of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob,
the God who spoke through the Hebrew prophets.
(Foster; 2001:11)
It is evident that there are many other religions in the

world besides Christianity and Islam, but the tension that
exists between these two is quite remarkable. As we
know the mission of the church is to share the love of
Christ with the rest of the world including people from
other religions. This however has been marred by a
common history shared by both Christianity and Islam.
The tension between Christianity and Islam can be traced

back to the Arabian revolution and invasion of the
Christian empires between the second half of the 5th C
AD through to early 7thc AD. This sparked retaliation by

some Christian nations by ways of the crusades in the
late 10thc AD through to the mid 12thC AD. Even though
the crusades were mainly for religious reasons, political

conquests played a major role in fueling them.
Forster looks at the Arab invasion as a major downfall

and setback for Christianity. However he sees this
invasion majorly as war of conquests rather than religion
as he affirms by the following words;
The old idea that this Arab invasion of surrounding

lands was a war of religion is largely misleading. It was
a war of conquest, but not of forcible conversion.
(Foster; 2001: 12)
However, he agrees that the invasion was a major loss to

Christians. He says;
Yet what a century (632-732) of Arab advance it had

been, and what a century of Christian loss! The Arabs
had overrun half of the territory which had once been
the Christian Roman Empire. (Foster; 2001:15)
From this brief history it is therefore easy to understand

why there is so much animosity between Christians and
Muslims compared to other religions. To be able to reach
out to Muslims with the gospel of Christ it is therefore

advisable for Christians to start from a common ground.
Record has it that there have been numerous debates and
interfaith dialogues lately between Christianity and other
faiths, especially with Muslims. One thing that has
always come out clearly from these debates is how
numerous the similarities between these two faiths are in
terms of the moral teachings which they profess. One
outstanding teaching is that on love. The difference
comes on how the teaching on love is presented within
the practices of these two religions. The Love of God as
understood by Christians is unconditional to the extent of
dying on a cross for the sins of humanity. According to
Muslims, God cant stoop low to the extent of dying on a
wretched cross.
In a dialogue concerning Christian and Muslim faith and

beliefs on love, two scholars from both religions
compare their findings and look at both the similarities
and differences. Badru who is a Muslim scholar states in
his explanations that an instruction to love and care for
others is one of the fundamental moral teachings of the

Islamic faith. He says;
The moral values in Islam teach man to desist from

inflicting injury upon his fellow men, and also encourage
him to do well to others. (Badru and Shenk; 2004: 70)
He bases this argument on the Quranic teachings but

most specifically on a particular verse which states that;
Ascribe no thing as partner unto him. (Show) Kindness

unto parents, and unto near kindred, and orphans, and
the needy, and unto the neighbor who is not of kin, and
the fellow traveler and the wayfarer and (the slaves)
whom your right hands possess. (Quran 4:36). (Badru
and Shenk; 2004:70)
The Christian scholar, David Shenk in his contribution

also comes up with a near similar explanation. He says;
When Jesus the messiah appeared, He pointed out that

the commandment to love is the greatest commandment
of all, and that all the other commandments in the Bible
are summarized in the law of love. (Badru and Shenk;

2004: 157)
This may as well be a summarized explanation of God's

command to love others which encompasses all the other
commandments. But David, to explain himself further
takes another look at the commandments and expounds
on them. He says;
In the Ten Commandments we read, 'you shall not kill'.

But Jesus the messiah taught that hate is all wrong. It is
hate which drives people to kill. We need to become free
of evil attitudes towards other people. (Badru and
Shenk; 2004: 158)
When we consider the views of these two scholars we

are left to wonder why there would seem to be a
disagreement between Christians and Muslims when it
comes to love and how they treat their neighbors. As I
said earlier, the difference between Christian and
Muslim belief on love is evidenced by the sacrificial
love which was demonstrated by Christ through his
death on the cross.
It is this kind of love that Christ wants Christians to

show to their Muslim brothers and other non Christians.
This kind of gesture would show how much we
appreciate and care for our neighbors regardless of their
beliefs or ideologies. Furthermore, Muslims would never
expect or understand this kind of love since they believe
God can't sacrifice His own for the sake of love towards
a sinful creation. Badru confirms this by sharing the
belief of Muslims towards the crucifixion of Christ. He
says;
According to the true belief of Islam, it would seem

most inappropriate for the messiah to die through a
shameful crucifixion. God who is just would not permit
the righteous messiah to suffer in that manner. (Badru
and Shenk; 2004: 140)
This explains to us how much our Muslim brothers don't

really understand the passionate love of Christ for the
entire humanity. It is upon us as Christians to share this
kind of love with the Muslims to show them how much
Christ cared for them. It is through our love that they
may learn the passionate unconditional love that God has

towards His fallen creation. This may give them an
opportunity to share in the assurance of forgiveness for
sins which we received through the death of Jesus Christ
on the cross.
Christian Outreach to Other Faiths

Christianity was born into a world that was full of many
other religions, some monotheistic while others were
polytheistic in nature. One of these monotheistic
religions which gave birth to Christianity is Judaism.
Looking at the Jewish faith we realize that it was also

influenced by different beliefs of the people they
interacted with at the time. But most of the influence can
be attributed to the Babylonian beliefs that the Jews
encountered during their seventy five year exile in
Babylon.
The best example of early Christian outreach to people

of other religions is the encounter of Paul at Athens
during his missionary journeys (Acts 17:16-32).We
know how much Paul tried to convince the polytheistic
Athenians of the existence of one true God who is the

only one to be worshiped. Though he convinced quite a
number of people a vast majority were still doubtful
about his teachings.
This is one example of some of the encounters the

Christian missionaries had in their attempt to evangelize
people of other faiths. As Christian history tells us we
know that much of the success of conversion from other
faiths to Christianity can be attributed to the passion and
love that was exhibited by the numerous martyrs through
their faith. What made people believe in them might
have been the hope they had despite their persecution.
When you view these experiences from another angle

you discover that even though Christianity as a religion
was very popular and highly admired in the earlier
centuries it has not been quite so in the later years
especially between the 20th and the 21st centuries. Many
would attribute this to the rise of Islam and secularism
but I think a lot of it has to do with the laxity of
Christians in their missionary work.
Christian missionaries have always been consumed by

the desire to convert other people to Christianity to the
point of even losing the true message of the gospel itself.
I would agree that this has been our major undoing as
Christians. Our main mission was and still is to share the
love of Christ with the non-believers all around us.
What better way is there to share the love of Christ with

non-believers than to exhibit it through our actions and
lifestyle. But what has transpired across the globe is that
Christians' proclamation of the gospel throughout history
has been filled with more judgment and resentment
towards non-believers than with unconditional love as
expected by Jesus Christ.
It is our duty to win souls to Christ as Christians through

love and not judgment and condemnation. It is this kind
of attitude that may be a major reason why most non-
believers or people of other faiths have always resented
Christianity and those who profess if. This is evidenced
by the sayings of many renowned historical personalities
who are not Christians. For instance Mahatma Gandhi of
India is well known for his famous sayings about

Christianity as religion and the lives of Christians as a
whole, he said;
I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your

Christians are so unlike Christ.
One would wonder what Gandhi meant when he said

Christians are so unlike Christ. But he goes on to explain
it this way;
Whenever you have truth, it must be given with love or

the message and the messenger will be rejected
What do these words mean to us? It does not mean that

Mahatma Gandhi denied that Christians had the gospel
truth. What he meant is that those who preached about
the love of Christ and the gospel truth hardly had that
love themselves. This was not only a hindrance to
Gandhi becoming a Christian but I can imagine many
other millions who share Gandhi's sentiments when it
comes to Christians' way of evangelism.
So then, how should we reach out to people of other

faiths with the love of Christ? I think the best way is to
develop interest in them first. We should develop interest
in their beliefs, their way of life, and even practices
without judgment or condemnation. If done this way it
will be easy to understand our audience and love them
still without prejudices. It is also a good way of showing
people how much we care about them, appreciate them,
and respect them even if they are strangers to us.
This is the best way of striking a relationship with

someone who is not a Christian. In the process, as you
learn about them and offer assistance whenever and
wherever necessary they will be able to see the love of
Christ in you and even open up their hearts in response.
It is at this point that they may choose to trust you with

their deeper and inner feelings or issues. This would
make it easier to share with them about the love of Christ
and the message of the gospel. It is not wise to rush
because as you get to know your audience you will know
what to say at what point, how to say it, and even avoid
the things you are not supposed to say.
It would then surprise you that every human being has an

innate desire for spiritual satisfaction and assurance even
to the point of believing in a supernatural force or being.
This kind of experience is widely agreed by people
professing other faiths besides Christianity. His Holiness
the Dalai Lama who is a Buddhist monk also believes
everyone should embark on a spiritual journey in his life.
He says;
I believe that each individual should embark upon a

spiritual path that is best suited to his or her mental
disposition, natural inclination, temperament, belief,
family and cultural background.(Lama and Cutler;
1999:248)
With this kind of understanding I believe that every

human being alive is always on the quest for spiritual
fulfillment. But unless Christians portray the love of
Christ in their own lives and actions then Christianity
would lose its uniqueness in the sight of other religions

and pass just as one of the world's famous religions.
CHRIST'S DEMONSTRATION
OF LOVE
_____________________________________________
When we looked at the teachings of Jesus Christ about

the Good Samaritan, we discovered that his world view
towards people is different from that of the teachers of
the law who the Jewish people knew and his character
was far more than they could imagine or ever think of.
His world view transcended race, gender and even
religion.
He depicted a perfect example of how we should show

love to our neighbors. There is much wisdom and
knowledge in the teachings of Christ which he gave to
the disciples and the Jewish people throughout his entire
ministry that only lasted about three years. But it suffices
to say that there is much more that we can learn just
from His life which lasted only for thirty three years in
this world. The life of Jesus Christ alone gives us more
than His teachings could ever give on how to relate with

one another and even show love to our neighbors.
There are various ways by which Christ demonstrated

love towards others in-terms of His actions and even
gestures in addition to His words of wisdom. His
miraculous works also demonstrated this in a more
perfect way that it amazed even the teachers of the law
who sought to kill Him. We are going to look at three
major ways by which Christ demonstrated love towards
other people.
Compassionate Love
A simple dictionary meaning for the word compassion is
a feeling one has towards the suffering of others which
prompts him to offer help. I would equate this to being
empathetic towards someone who is hurting rather than
sympathetic. Someone who is empathetic would try to
get into the other persons shoes to feel and understand
what he feels, but a sympathetic person would only feel
pity and sorry for the other person without having an
idea of his pain.
The first greatest act of God for showing empathy

towards mankind is by letting Christ come down in the
form of flesh. This was to ensure that Christ lived a
normal life of an ordinary human being, experienced the
joys, pains, sorrows and sufferings any other human
being would go through in the same way (John 1:14,
Hebrews 2 :7-9; 4:15 ).
The most interesting act of love however, is on how

Christ chose to share in the sufferings of others. This is
clearly shown by his gestures of identifying with the
poor, the marginalized, the despised and outcasts of the
society. His actions bothered most of the religious
leaders at the time and if it were to happen today, it
would also bother many Christian leaders that we have
in our churches.
Jesus showed compassion to all the wrong people of

the society and for very weird reasons. At times even His
disciples failed to understand His acts of mercy. Apart
from all the obvious miracles that Jesus performed, like
feeding the five thousand, driving out demons or healing
the sick, there were various actions that Jesus took which
baffled both the disciples and the teaches of the law.
The first incident that I can mention is that of a sinful

woman who anointed Jesus feet with oil at a Pharisees
house named Simon. All who were present felt that she
should not have even come close to Christ. But the way
Christ responded to her showed much love and mercy
which all the others could not understand (Luke 7:36-
50). Two other similar incidences to these are that of a
woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11), and that of a
Samaritan woman who Jesus spoke to at the well of
Jacob (John 4:4-27).
In all these incidences Jesus shows compassion to these

women who have already been judged and condemned
by the society. The reason I picked these three women is
because of the different cases of prejudices depicted in
their situations. Of course the women may have been
known for recurrent evil deeds, but the most remarkable
thing is the admiration on how Jesus dealt with their
situations, with much love and mercy.
In the first case we see a woman who has already been

judged by the community to be a sinner (maybe she was)
and was not expected anywhere near Christ, who was not
only a Rabbi but also righteous and holy. In many cases
we find a number of Christians in the position this
community was in. As Christians we judge so many
people around us because of their evil deeds and even
forget that Christ expects us to show them love instead
of hate and condemnation.
The hate towards sin for many Christians has always

been turned to hate towards the sinner. As a result,
Christians would rather have nothing to do with such
people within the society in order to preserve their own
reputation. This is why in many occasions we see people
of questionable character being driven away from
Christian gatherings.
In the second case we see a woman who has been caught

red handed committing adultery. The most amazing
thing is that the man she was caught in the act with was
nowhere to be seen. Jesus' response to the situation
amazed all the Pharisees and even His audience. Just as

the Pharisees were always fond of making partial
judgments on the sins committed by other people, many
Christians today tend to fall under the same category.
By making partial judgment on other people we tend to

put ourselves on the spot for God's judgment because of
forgetting that we too are sinners. When Jesus told the
Pharisees that whoever had not sinned to cast the first
stone, He reminded them of their own sins. In the same
way, Christ expects us to forgive others for their sins just
as God has forgiven us.
Therefore, our duty as Christians towards others is not

supposed to be that of judges but of people who show
mercy, compassion and by extension the love of Christ
to them through forgiveness and acceptance. Christ
demonstrated this love by forgiving those who crucified
Him and He expects the same from us as Christians.
The third case that we see is that of Jesus' conversation

with a Samaritan woman. This case presents to us ethnic
and customary prejudices among the Jewish community.
When the disciples came back from buying food, they

were surprised to see Jesus speaking to a Samaritan
woman by the well and were reluctant to approach them.
There are three issues in this event. The first challenge is

that of the woman being a Samaritan. According to
Jewish customs, Samaritans were a people who were
considered to be of a lower status in the society and they
were not to associate with them in any way. Any contact
with a Samaritan would lower their dignity as Jews. The
second issue is that the Samaritan was a woman and
Jesus hardly knew her. Jews had a problem with women
being of the same status as men in the society.
It was therefore generally expected of a Rabbi not to be

found somewhere with a strange woman in deep
conversation unless she had some kind of relation to him
or she came to Him for help. This is why the disciples
had doubts in their minds and started questioning
themselves concerning the actions of their master.
The third and final issue is that this woman, from

common knowledge of her community had been with
five men and was looking at Jesus as a prospective

suitor. This was morally unaccepted in the society. The
way Jesus reacted to the woman's inquisitiveness and
shared with her about His mission helped the woman be
able to share with her community about the revelation of
the promised messiah.
From the story of the Samaritan woman we realize that

even in todays society we have our own prejudices
towards certain people because of their race, religion,
gender or even social class and status within the society.
These prejudices have always been a major hindrance for
Christians in their quest to share the love of Christ with
others.
The stories of these three women are just but a few

examples of how Christ showed compassion and love to
the least expected in the society. By demonstrating this
kind of love, Christ teaches us that love should have no
bounds and that everyone deserves to be loved regardless
of who they are, what they have done or what they stand
for. In this way we will be able to fulfill Christ's

command of love for our neighbors.
Sacrificial Love
We all know that the main mission of Christ was to
come and die on the cross for the sins of mankind. It is
the greatest sacrifice that one could ever give for
another, having to die in their place because of love.
There are so many ways by which Christ demonstrated
love through sacrifice in His teachings and even actions.
The first evidence that we see in His teachings about

sacrificial love is when he refers to Himself as a
shepherd (John 10:11, 14-18). In this passage Jesus talks
of himself as a shepherd who would lay down his life for
the sheep, defending them at the expense of his life. This
shows how much the shepherd loves his flock and is not
afraid to lose his life for their sake.
In verse twelve and thirteen, Jesus speaks of a hired

servant who would abandon the sheep upon seeing a
wolf approaching. The wolf would then scatter the
sheep. This shows that the hired servant does not care
much about the welfare of the sheep. We all know that

we as a church are the flock of Christ and the church
leaders are like hired servants who are entrusted with the
care of the flock.
But the question is on how much a church leader would

be ready to sacrifice for the sake of that one faithful
Christian who is languishing in turmoil. It suffices to say
that in the 21st C
Church there is scarcity of Christians
who would risk sacrificing their lives for the sake of
other weaker and vulnerable members of the flock which
is the church.
Jesus goes on to teach that whoever desires to follow

him must be ready to forsake all, carry his cross and
follow him (Matthew 8:18-22). In other words, there is a
sacrifice to pay when one chooses to follow Christ. One
must be ready to sacrifice all he has for the sake of the
love of Christ. This is also supposed to be expressed by
the love we show towards others as Christians.
A perfect demonstration of sacrificial love is seen at the

crucifixion of Christ. Jesus loved the world so much that
he asked God to forgive those who crucified him since

they didn't know what they were doing (Luke23:34).
Jesus knew that the only way to save His crucifiers and
the rest of the world was by dying on that wretched
cross. Even though it was not easy He decided to bear
our pain and suffering (Luke 22:41-44).
As He prepared His disciples for their ministry, Christ

ensured that they understood what sacrifice they had to
pay for the sake of the gospel. He ensured that they were
willing and ready to pay the prize of following Him
(John 15:18-21). This did not make things easy for
James and John who wished to sit at the right and left
hand of Jesus (Matthew 20:20-23). He ensured that they
were willing and ready to drink from the same cup of
suffering that He was about to take.
What does this show us as Christians? It does not just

mean that we have to sacrifice our lives in order to share
the love of Christ with others but that we should also be
always ready to make sacrifices for the sake of others.
These acts of sacrifice should be shown to all including

non-believers.
Acts of sacrifice done to a total non-believing stranger

would prompt him to ask why you helped him in that
manner. It is at this point that you would find the
opportunity to share with him the good news about Jesus
Christ. Such a gesture would always soften peoples
hearts and they would accept the gospel message with
much ease.
Serving Others
The act of service is what I would call the core of
Christian ministry. Most of what Jesus did in His three
year ministry was serving the community. One greater
way of showing love towards other people is by
choosing to serve them out of your own free will.
Service is supposed to be a selfless act that does not

expect or demand gains, returns or benefits in the end if
it is done out of love. This is one unique nature that was
portrayed by Christ which made him different from all
the other rabbis and religious leaders of his time.
Many people in authority always expect and demand

respect, honor and reverence from other members of the
societies which they serve. This would be one of the
reasons why Jesus taught his disciples to embrace
humility and a heart of service if they ever want to attain
greatness. He said that a person who wants to be the
greatest must be the least of all (Matthew 23:11-12).
By considering it this way, Jesus did not mean that one

has to take a low profile and make himself the least of all
literally but to avoid developing a mentality of lordship
over others. This would demonstrate a high level of
hypocrisy in one's service as a leader.
A life of service that Jesus recommended for the

disciples was one of selfless acts filled with love for the
people whom they served. This would make them
connect with people in a more loving and intimate way.
People always tend to open up to those who show them
kindness and love to the extent of offering help without
strings attached.
One way by which Jesus expressed His love to the

disciples through service was by the act of washing their
feet (John 13: 3-17). Most of the disciples and especially
Peter did not understand why Jesus chose to wash their
feet. In fact Peter refused the offer since it was
demeaning for his master to wash his feet. It was until
Jesus told him that he was not worthy to be his disciple if
he refused to have his feet washed that Simon Peter
grudgingly obliged.
One would wonder why Peter had initially refused to

have his feet washed by Christ. According to the Jewish
custom, it was the duty of a slave or a servant in a
household to wash the feet of guests who came in to
visit. This was a tradition that had been carried out
throughout the Jewish community's history.
It is therefore understandable for Peter to refuse having

his feet washed by his master instead of him being the
one to wash the masters feet. This act done by Christ
was not only an important and valuable lesson to His
disciples but also a perfect demonstration for all
Christians throughout history on what kind of service is

expected of them.
It is our duty as Christians to show love to others

through service. This may be by way of social actions in
attempts to help the needy, the poor, orphans and even
destitute. Our acts of service as Christians should
therefore be done without prejudice or by a mentality of
justification in terms of Christian duty and mission.
Service towards the less fortunate should be done with a

pure heart and a conscience that is selfless and does not
expect justification or reward in the end. In this way
many people will actually see the love of Christ in us
and give glory to God.
4
HOLISTIC HEALING
_____________________________________________
Human-beings, just like all other living animals are

social beings. There is no one who can exist alone in
total solitude throughout his life and be quite successful
at it. In order to survive human-beings are innately wired
to depend upon each other and the entire creation as a
whole.
We can therefore say that communication and inter-

personal relationships are the major bridges that people
ride through across their life spans in their quest for
survival. From time to time we have to communicate and
relate with the environment around us for our survival.
However there are times when conflicts arise between

individuals, groups or communities as they relate with
each other. It is because of such conflicts that tensions,
hatred and violence become evident in various societies
across the world. When this happens people get hurt, fail
to trust each other and eventually many lives and even

relationships are broken. People may seem to be okay
but in the real sense are hurting deep within because of
painful memories of past events in their lives.
One of the values in Christ's manifesto was to come and

bind the broken hearted. In an attempt to share the love
of Christ with others it is therefore important to
understand what they go through and how they can find
healing. In order to do so we need to look at the way
people relate with one another and what may be the
causes of conflicts when they arise. We also need to
know what is expected of us as Christians when we
relate with others.
Interpersonal Relationship
As earlier mentioned we live in a world where human
beings depend on their relationship with one another and
their immediate environment for survival. Relating with
other people and a person's environment is something
which develops slowly and gradually as one grows from
childhood into adulthood.
As a child grows up, he therefore learns to relate with

people around him through the years by observing and
copying what they do or say. It is at this point that one
learns the use of language especially the native dialect.
Other things which are picked along the way include
moral standards, values and traditions of a particular
society. This is why a person's background usually plays
a major role in the way he interacts with others.
As one grows up he is able to develop what I would call

self image and personality. This may include one's
values, personal beliefs and even opinions towards issues
and others personalities. It is this image that is always
portrayed to other people as an individual interacts with
others. In an article, Trenholm and Jensen explain this
further by saying that;
When people interact, each presents an image of self to

the other. These images are however, usually quite fluid.
We are responsive to the feedback of the other and begin
quickly to negotiate a definition of the relationship
between self and other.(Trenholm and Jensen;

1999:161)
This information explains a lot to us on how people react

whenever we interact with them in any way. Because of
the misgivings of the society, people are generally
conditioned to behave or act in particular way depending
on who they interact with whether they are strangers or
people acquainted to them. This is why people are
always shocked or taken aback whenever a complete
stranger shows them kindness or love. This is an act that
is out of the norms of the society.
When you choose to show someone kindness in a

gesture of love you capture the attention of that person
and it gives you an opportunity to be able to share more
with him about the love and goodness of Jesus Christ.
Such a reaction is always due to the moral decadence of
the society which compels people to withdraw
themselves back into their personal defenses.
It is easily noticeable that there is a lot of pressure

around the society which pushes people to conform to
the demands and opinions of others in terms of their

behaviors or beliefs. The world we live in is one
whereby everyone wants to influence the attitudes and
opinions of other people.
Because of the innate need of a sense of belonging, we

always find it easy to change our thinking and attitudes
in order to fit within a particular social grouping. The
end result is usually a state of depression or
hopelessness. Anderson agrees to this that in trying to
conform to the perceptions and standards of others we
would always come short of satisfaction. He says;
Try as you might, by our appearance, performance or

social status to find self verification for a sense of being
somebody we always come short of satisfaction.
Whatever pinnacle of self identity we achieve, soon
crumbles under the pressure of hostile rejection and
criticism, introspection or guilt, fear or
anxiety.(Anderson; 1990:19)
Why does this happen? Human beings tend to be very

subjective and stereotypical in their opinions and
judgments towards other people. The saddest thing is

that this happens more in the Christian circles. It has
been generally viewed especially by non-Christians that
Christians are very subjective and choosy when it comes
to personal interaction with other people. Majority of
Christians usually show contempt to non-Christians and
especially those who do not profess the Christian faith in
the lord Jesus Christ. This is contrary to the teachings of
Christ and His desire to show love.
It is high time we put our prejudices and stereotypes

aside whenever we are dealing with people. Every
individual has a need for acceptance and love regardless
of who he is what he has done or what he believes in. If
we do not show such people love without conditions or
expectations, then Christianity as a faith loses its
meaning and uniqueness as was presented by Jesus
Christ himself through His life and teachings.
Personal Healing
It is not easy for a person who is hurting or broken
hearted to comfort another who is also in the same
condition. Therefore, in order to fulfill the ministry of
Christ, we are required to deal with the issues in our
lives which may become a hindrance to our missionary
duties.
The way we relate to others as individuals is usually

highly affected or influenced by our past experiences and
encounters in life. These experiences are what usually
help us develop self understanding of who we are and
our social place in the society is. This then in return
dictates our behaviors and actions around other people.
Our self awareness is always therefore mainly affected

by the environment which we live in terms of values,
norms and even cultures of the people we interact with.
Simons, Kalichman, et al describe self understanding as
a construction which includes all the above features and
more. She says;
Self understanding is a social cognitive construction

influenced by the sociocultural contexts in which we
live.(Simons, Kalichman, et al; 1994:64)
As we grow up, we come across many events and

occurrences in life some good and some unpleasant. It is
therefore quite ordinary for people to suppress bad
memories in the subconscious mind while they keep the
good memories in the conscious mind. People like
talking about all the exiting events in their lives but
hardly mention the negatives ones.
Considering such experiences few people realize that

whatever we go through always affect the way we deal
and relate to other people whether consciously or
unconsciously. Anderson notes that when we come into
contact with other people, we tend to hide our true self
which might be quite disturbing and unpleasant to us. He
says;
Often what we show on the outside is a false front

designed to disguise who we really are and cover up the
secret hurts we feel about our identity.(Anderson;

1990:19)
When we fail to deal with these issues they tend to affect

our relationship with others. It may reach a point when
we think we are okay because we have bottled up the
negative feelings in the back of our minds. But
occasionally when dealing with people such memories
may be triggered thus affecting our relationships with
others.
Taylor notes that the reason why some of us bottle up

these memories is because of the fear of getting hurt
again and therefore fail to open up to others because we
do not trust them with our issues. He says that;
Too often however, we are unwilling to be open with

people, to share with them, or to listen to them. We are
afraid that if we do so, we shall be hurt or deceived or
used by them. So we remain hidden and
secretive.(Taylor; 1983:65)
A Christian who is in this position will definitely have

problems when he is relating with other people,
especially those who are not Christians. It is therefore
difficult to share the love of Christ with others in this
condition. This why it is important for every Christian to
find personal inner healing of their emotions, memories
and natural selves before embarking on the task of trying
to reach out to others.
Past experiences usually lead people to have a sense of

low self esteem, guilt, regret, despair or even
hopelessness. One easy way of dealing with this is for an
individual to learn to embrace his past and deal with the
ghosts of the past which may be a major thorn in the
flesh in their present lives. Once an individual has
embraced such issues, he should learn how to forgive
himself first then those who hurt him and facilitate
reconciliation in the process. This is the first major step
towards a persons holistic healing.
Forgiveness and Reconciliation

The greatest victory that any person can have is facing
and overcoming his worse fears in life. It is usually
natural to believe that the worst fears anyone can have
are the unpleasant memories and occurrences of the past.
Unless one decides to face these memories and
occurrences, they will always linger somewhere in his
mind and haunt him for a long time.
Some of the memories include past mistakes that a

person committed and because of the consequences, has
never come to terms with them. In the process, one
decides not to forgive himself and vows never to commit
such mistakes again. If you are such a person who leaves
such incidences with this kind of a finality and not a
proper closure, then they will still come back to haunt
you with time.
It is therefore imperative that one begins a process of

renewing his mind and clear it of the past hurts and
failures. The best way to do this is to face those hurtful
feelings and regrets instead of suppress them at the back
of your mind. This will facilitate the beginning of a

healing process of ones mind. When you come to terms
with the realities of your past negative experiences, it
will be easier to learn how to forgive yourself and even
those who caused you harm and pain in those
experiences.
Jesus always talked about forgiveness and even

demonstrated it to His disciples by way of His actions.
From the understanding of scripture, most Christians still
find themselves at pain in trying to forgive those who
have hurt them in the past. But forgiveness for others can
only be easy when one learns to forgive himself first.
People tend to hold so much against themselves than

they do against others without realizing it. This is why
even when you purport to have forgiven those who
wronged us; we still feel lots of pain from those
experiences.
In order to learn how to forgive self and others one has

to understand what forgiveness is and what it entails. It
is a general understanding that forgiveness is an act of
excusing the wrongs of others without holding them into

account. Anderson gives a very interesting definition. He
says;
Forgiveness means resolving to live with the

consequences of another person's sin.(Anderson;
1990:202)
I cannot think of a more elaborate meaning than this.

Indeed one has to make a resolution to live with the
consequences of the sins of another. In addition to this,
one has to resolve to live with the consequences of his
own sins. Without this resolution, one would either
continue to live with guilt or anger towards what he has
been through. This resolution would eventually bring a
sense of peace and calmness to the mind and soul of an
individual.
Once you have learnt to make peace with yourself it is

appropriate to learn to make peace with other people
who hurt you. Forgiving those who hurt you not only lets
them off the hook but it does more good to you as an
individual. If you choose not to forgive those who hurt
you, it is not them who will suffer in endless pain but

you.
Forgiveness is also a way of showing love. It is the

pinnacle of Jesus' teachings and practices throughout His
ministry here on earth. He demonstrated this kind of love
to the point of death on a cross. This is shown by His
plea for God to forgive those who crucified Him.
It is always natural for people to expect vengeance or

retaliation from those they hurt or wrong. But when one
chooses to forgive his perpetrators it raises an eyebrow
and expresses a show of love which was never expected.
It is therefore important for us as Christians to always
show love to those who hurt us and even to even pray for
them. It is also the duty of Christians to facilitate
reconciliation between people or groups which are in
conflict or tension. This way we are able to share the
love of Christ with others.
One way of facilitating reconciliation is by developing

an activity which would create a common ground for
conflicting groups. This will give them an opportunity to
interact and fellowship with each other and in the

process end their dispute amicably. I know of Christian
organizations which have facilitated forgiveness and
reconciliation between conflicting communities by way
of sports and other social activities which bear common
interests to the groups.
The end goal in this process is always to share the love

of Christ and let those who felt marginalized and
hopeless get smiles back on their faces again. It is our
duty as Christians to show other people the way of love
through forgiveness and reconciliation if we want them
to live holistic and peaceful lives with one another.
5
IN CHRIST'S FOOTSTEPS
_____________________________________________
When you look at the stickers which people put on the

window panes of their cars or matatus you might have
come across a sticker that reads; follow me as I follow
Christ. This statement basically depicts the role and
mission of the Christian Church as a whole. It is what
informs the doctrine and missionary activities of
Christians since Christians main goal is to reach out to
the world with the Gospel message by portraying
similitude to Christ.
After Christ's ascension into heaven, the apostles began

the work of fulfilling the Great Commission which was
entrusted to them by Jesus Christ. They proceeded to
preach the gospel in the neighboring towns and their
behaviors and character made people nick name them
Christians. It was at Antioch that the apostles were first
called Christians (Acts 11:26). The reason for this is that
the way they carried out themselves portrayed the

character and personality of Jesus Christ.
Indeed Christ taught his disciples to do as he said and

did. Therefore nothing less is expected of us as
Christians but to follow in the same manner. Our ways
of life, our teachings and even actions should resemble
those of Christ if we are ever to be called Christians just
like the early apostles.
The Mission of the Church

Christians generally understand that the mission of the
Church is to fulfill the Great Commission of the Lord
Jesus Christ as described in Matthew 28: 18-20. But I
think it is more than preaching the gospel or baptizing
people into the Christian faith. When Jesus ascended into
heaven, he understood quite well that he was sending out
the disciples into a broken, fallen and sick world which
needs love, comfort healing and reconciliation not only
with each other but also with the Lord himself.
I would therefore describe the mission of the Church as a

fulfillment of the scriptures in Matthew 28 in addition to
the prophecy of Isaiah in Isaiah 61 which became part of

Jesus' manifesto as we read in Luke 4:16-21. From this
we understand that the desire of Christ in His mission
was to fulfill the prophecy by meeting the needs of the
world as described by the words of prophet Isaiah. It is
therefore wise to figure that Christ would desire the
same for the Church which he left behind as he
ascended into heaven.
I therefore believe that the mission of the Church in

addition to propagation of the Gospel message is to bind
up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for the
captives, release from darkness those imprisoned and
comfort those who mourn. The question remains whether
the Church is meeting these needs satisfactorily.
When we look around us we realize that there are so

many people who are hurting and the church is no longer
their place of solace. Churches today are like many
business ventures because of resorting to commercial
services offered to those who seek solace in them.
Church leaders in many congregations today expect
financial benefits from those who seek their services in

the name of goodwill or appreciation, or faith giving
towards the intervention of God in their favor.
The key pillar of the services that are to be provided by

the church is love, and love which must be
unconditional. We should show the love of Christ both to
the deserving and undeserving, not only the members of
our congregation or those who profess the Christian faith
but also to non-believers.
Around the world there are so many people who are

either grieving, broken hearted or in captivity due to
drug and substance abuse among many other
misfortunes. Some are even prisoners of emotional or
psychological trauma caused by various occurrences in
their lives. This is clear evidence that the church is
greatly behind schedule in its task towards the
community which Christ entrusted it with.
Anyone regardless of faith, gender, race or status should

feel at home and find solace in the church. This is what
the marginalized people during Jesus' time felt whenever
they came in His presence. Nothing short of this is

expected from anyone who confesses that he is a
Christian.
But from the evidence of what we see around us one

begins to realize that there is laxity in the church in
terms of service to the less fortunate in the community.
From the beginning of Christianity the church existed as
a fellowship of believers across the world. But slowly as
the church grew many congregations became
independent and various denominations were formed.
Slowly the church began to shift from being a fellowship
of believers who owed their services to the community
to becoming separate groups of societies which adhered
to the interests of their members thus forgetting their
obligatory role to the entire society.
One may think that this is a problem that began in the

later centuries but it is a challenge that also affected the
early Christian church and its congregations during the
time of the apostles. As Taylor explored the history of
the early church, he discovered that Peter had to deal
with similar challenges affecting some of the church

leaders of the time. He says;
A little later too in the early Christian congregations,

some of the leaders failed to care for the people as
shepherds should. Peter warned against wrong ideas of
leadership (see 1 peter 5:2, 3).(Taylor; 1983:10)
What are we supposed to do then? As Christian we

should give the church the glory, honor and dignity that
it deserves. It is high time Christians depicted the spirit
and character of Jesus Christ at all times. This way we
can fulfill the mission of the church without any doubt
and even restore the confidence of many believers and
non-believers in the credibility of the Christian faith.
The Fruit of the Spirit

Before the crucifixion of Christ, he promised the
disciples that he wont leave them as orphans but he will
send a helper who is the Holy Spirit (John16:7-15). We
all know that throughout the mission of Jesus Christ, he
was full of the Holy Spirit. In fact the Bible records that
the Spirit descended upon him like a dove at the time of

His baptism by John the Baptist (luke3:21-22)
But why would the Holy Spirit be important for the

mission of the disciples after the departure of Christ?
Jesus called the Holy Spirit a counselor who would
convict the world of guilt in regard to their sins, guide
the disciples into all truth about God and glorify Christ
himself. Every believer who believes in Christ as the son
of God receives the gifts and baptism of the Holy Spirit.
I would say the Holy Spirit always acts as a guide and

teacher to Christians as they fulfill their mission and
duty for the sake of the gospel. One other advantage is
the transformation that the Spirit brings upon an
individual's life. It is this kind of transformation that
makes it easy for a person to be able to embrace and
portray the character and personality of Christ in his own
lifestyle.
The transformation brought about by the Holy Spirit is

clearly evidenced by the virtues which Paul explains to
the people of Galatia in Galatians 5:22-23. He calls them
the Fruit of the Spirit with the virtues of love, joy,

peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. Surely when you consider
all these virtues you realize that they all focus on the
emotions which people struggle with every single day.
A Christian who is filled with the Spirit of God and is

lucky to embrace all the virtues of the fruit of the Spirit
will not have trouble relating with other people. In fact
he will be at much ease in sharing out his life with others
and even showing them the love of Christ. It is important
that we practice all these virtues if we ever want to
follow in the footsteps of Christ and be successful in our
Christian mission.
From experience I can say that these virtues are not

imparted automatically to any Christian who is full of
the Holy Spirit. From time to time we have to practice
patience, tolerance and even self-control with people
who we interact with in our missionary duties. By doing
this one will realize that he can accommodate almost
anyone regardless of his character, values or opinions.
The regular practice of these virtues also helps us to deal

with our own weaknesses and shortcomings. In
practicing to tame ourselves and embrace the fruit of the
Holy Spirit and its virtues, we give ourselves an
opportunity of seeing the world from a totally different
point of view and in the process gain a lot of wisdom on
how to handle issues better and also deal with people
more easily. It also boosts our efforts in fulfilling the
mission and ministry of the Church to the local
community and the world at large.
One major advantage of this is that it helps an individual

to be able to handle and deal with people of different
temperaments. In your journey as a Christian you will
always come across people with short tempers, lack of
self-control, impatience or even bitterness. If you have
not mastered the virtues of the Fruit of the Spirit you will
be at pains in trying to deal with such people.
Leading By Example
One of the greatest human rights activists who is still
celebrated today is the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This is a man who chose to use diplomacy to fight

against racial discrimination in the U.S.A. and it
eventually cost him his life in the end. The reason why
he is still celebrated today is not because of fighting for
the rights of his people but for his exemplary life and the
principles he stood by.
In the mid-20th Century when racial segregation was at

its peak in the U.S.A. so many people resorted to
violence against their opponents but the stand of Martin
Luther King Jr. was that of peace and reconciliation. His
position perplexed the perpetrators and even those who
were his own kindred. In fact he is known for his famous
saying about showing love to those who persecute you.
He always said the following words in his campaigns;
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do

that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.
This famous saying captured the hearts of many hearers.

Luther knew that the only way of fighting the cruelty of
social injustices in America was through love and not
hate or vengeance. This was further fuelled by his
exemplary actions in his campaigns. At no point did he

ever resist arrest or persecution from those opposed to
his beliefs or campaigns.
Even though Martin Luther may not have lived to see the
victory of what he fought so much for, we can say that
he is a perfect example of an exemplary leader. He is a
person who did not believe in violence and chose to lead
all those who believed in peaceful resolution of conflicts
through love by showing a perfect example through his
life.
We are also under obligation as Christians to lead others

by example. It has always been said that many Christians
preach water but drink wine. To a great extent this
statement is true because so many Christians have
always been caught up in scandals thereby tarnishing the
name of the faith which they profess.
This kind of behavior not only brings doubt to the

credibility of Christian teachings and beliefs but it also
lowers the dignity of the Church. It has even led to so
many people losing their faith in the Church and
Christianity as a whole. It is therefore mandatory for

Christians to lead exemplary lives which would mentor
others.
There is a rapid increase in moral decadence in todays

society because young people lack mentors or role
models who can guide them on upright moral standards.
The same happens even in the Church where there are
very few mentors. This poses a great challenge to church
Leaders and pastors who need to lead their followers by
living exemplary lives themselves.
Christ led the disciples by a perfect example of what is

expected of them via a demonstration of his own selfless
life. He even instructed them to love one another as he
loved them (John 15:12). What comes out clearly at this
point is that Jesus demonstrated the meaning of love to
his disciples by loving them first and serving them.
Afterwards he commanded them to love one another and

offer service to each other. The same is therefore
expected of us as Christians. Once we have experienced
the love of Christ, we are supposed to show this love to
others and share with them whether they deserve it or

not. There is no other better way to share the love of
Christ with others than to love them unconditionally.
REFERENCES
1. Anderson T. Neil (1990) Victory Over the

Darkness Regal Books/ Ventura, California
2. Badru D. Kateregga and Shenk W. David (2004)
Islam and Christianity Uzima Press/ Nairobi
3. Foster John (2001) Setback and Recovery SPCK/
London
4. Lama H. H. Dalai and Cutler C. Howard (1999)
The Art of Happiness Coronet Books/ London
5. Simons A. Janet, Kalichman Seth et al. (1994)
Human Adjustment Brown and Benchmark/
Wisconsin
6. Taylor Harold (1983) Tend My Sheep SPCK/
London
7. Trenholm Sarah and Jensen Arthur (1999) How
We Perceive Individuals, Relationships and
Social Events in Bridges Not Walls , ed. Stewart
John, pp. 154-168 McGraw-Hill College/ Boston
This a book that helps Christians to deal with everyday

challenges of coexistence between them and people who
do not necessarily share their faith, beliefs and even
opinions and as a result enables them to be able to share
with others the love of Christ as He intended.
It helps a Christian in his missionary journey to be able
to evangelize to non-believers and people of other faiths
by way of love and compassion which can only be
perfected by the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
_____________________________________________
Jesse Jackson Mirega is a Missionary, Bible
teacher, motivational speaker and mentor who has
worked with youths and other ministries since
2002 and ministered to people in various groups,
churches and institutions. He is a graduate of St.
Pauls University with Bachelor of Divinity
degree. He is married to one wife, Lynet Muoka

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L o v e T h y N e i g h b o r A s T h y s e l f |1

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS

Sharing Christs Love with

Jesse Jackson Mirega

Inspire the Soul, Transform Lives

Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself

Published in Kenya by The Potters Diaries

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

To my siblings Ruth, Mary, Joan, Steve and Titus whose

2. Christianity and Other Religions 29

3. Christs Demonstration of Love 48

When we take a look around us and across the entire

In living among people of different races, status in the

On the other hand I can say that faith and religion as a

is to turn back to the creator himself and find out what

When we look at the story of the creation in Genesis 1

So throughout the Bible from the book of Genesis all the

It is on such a background that the person and mission of

From his paraphrase of the Ten Commandments we see

It is easier for us to say as Christians how much we love

How then can we love one another as God expects us to?

love and care for one another including the less

In this book I have attempted to look at some of Jesus

This book therefore brings a Christian to much more

It helps a Christian share the love of Christ with other

or not, whether they deserve to be loved or not and as a

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

To understand the parable of the Good Samaritan and its

a result of the fall of the two Jewish kingdoms in the

Intermarriages between the Jewish people and the

When we look at the narrative of the Good Samaritan we

Let us assume that the wounded man was a Jew since he

This is because as it is recorded in this portion of

But if we consider their excuses by using the lens of

Taking this explanation into consideration we may

On the other hand when we consider the audience of

Jesus use of a Samaritan as the savior of the wounded

for him by tending to his wounds without caring about

The example that we see in the Good Samaritan shows

Gods Chosen People and Their Neighbors

To understand this it is therefore necessary to take a

The story of the people of Israel is introduced to us in the

The nation of Israel therefore begins with the three

teachings of the prophets and the apostles of Christ who

From the laws of Moses we find instructions to the

Such directions and beliefs may be the reason why

As a result of this Jacobs sons resorted to deception in

This is a first of a series of conflicts we see between the

kind of background that Christ laid the foundation of his

When we look back at the story of the Good Samaritan

The next big story about the Israelites and their

As the Israelites came out of Egypt we see God giving

The conflict of land however is not unique to the people

The uniqueness of the Israelites as a community however

The plan of God was simple, to choose a people who

By showing them His love, God wanted the Israelites to

sin and went ahead to disobey Gods laws. The attempt

From the proclamation of the prophets we know of the

The main problem they had concerned their relationship

We understand that the Jews had a one-sided perspective

meaning to the Jewish audience who listened to his

Christians today however have a tendency of sidelining

Christ therefore brings a new light into the