Your Neighbour or Eternal Life?

I’m sorry God, but I don’t think Christians really take eternal life seriously. In my personal experience, the behaviour of many so called “born-again” Christians do not align with the teachings of Jesus. Maybe they’ve just become so blasé about heading to heaven after their death that they don’t feel all the teachings of Jesus apply to them. Christians might claim they love the Lord with all their heart, but do they understand the concept of loving your neighbour as yourself? Apparently loving your neighbour is one of the keys to attaining eternal life.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has portrayed an extremely bleak view of religious organisations. As a contributor to this Royal Commission, in my opinion, the church involved with handling my personal abuse had also failed to deal with the matter adequately. With so much focus on religious institutions in this context, it seemed clear that their Christianity was a long, long way from a connection to Jesus Christ, unless there was a dangerous misinterpretation of the Bible verse, “Let the little children come to me.”

Recently, I angrily expressed personal frustration towards my extended family in a desperate bid to make them leave me alone. [I believed they had not supported me by failing to address my assaults or make police statements when requested. My family remained involved with the two men who had assaulted me and I find this makes a reasonable family relationship untenable.] A family member responded indignantly to me by writing back (thereby failing to acknowledge my request to be left alone), “I have never done anything to you” and “We are all Individual and actually nice people”. Those words were empty, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why they hurt me so much. Her claim was true after all; she personally had not harmed me and had never said a bad word towards me. So, what was it that made me so angry and resentful towards her as much as the family witnesses that had refused to make police statements?

I’m not much of a Bible reader but I do know about the Good Samaritan[1]. Most of us have heard the story even if we’ve not had a Christian upbringing: Jesus was asked a question about how to identify a neighbour. In true parable style of the Bible, the story described a man that had been attacked by men and left lying naked on the side of the road. A priest and Levite (tribe of Israel guy) passed by the man ignoring his plight and deliberately crossing the road. A Samaritan (disliked by many) assisted the injured man, organised and paid for his accommodation and care. The Samaritan was clearly the one who had shown mercy and compassion and was the person who acted as a neighbour to the injured.

Father Rod Bower of Gosford Anglican Church spoke at Tedx Sydney 2018 on the topic of the Good Samaritan and defined “neighbour”. He stated that your neighbour is likely to be the one you’ve marginalised and excluded. His recommendation for a just society: find your neighbour; know your neighbour; love your neighbour. The Governor of NSW, David Hurley, said “The standard you walk by is the standard you accept.” So simple. So powerful.

This is where modern Christianity is failing tremendously, especially in the fallout from the Royal Commission. These religious organisations have shown to be the opposite of neighbours. They stood by and did nothing. These religious organisations were silent even when they knew the predicament of their neighbours (those little children lying naked at the hands of the church).

Yes, my cousin’s wife was correct when she stated, “I have never done anything to you.” That is exactly my problem and my complaint. The Priest and the Levite in the Samaritan story; those two men were probably good people too but they chose to ignore their neighbour's wounds. My extended family should have been my neighbour and cared for my wellbeing like the Samaritan. Instead, my family crossed to the other side of the road and ignored my injuries. Metaphorically speaking, I had to drag myself out of the ditch after my attack and crawl on my knees to the nearest sanctuary. All dignity was forsaken. No Samaritan put their jacket around me to hide my nakedness or hurt on the way to the inn. No Samaritan paid for my care and lodgings during my vulnerable period until I was healed and functional.

The adults making submissions to the Royal Commission were faced with years and years of Priests and Levites. Not many Samaritans were to be found in the horrific tales endured by so many children at the hands of the people claiming access to eternal life. Those children dragged their bodies, naked and hurt, to find the nearest sanctuary. Not everyone made it. Some of the wounded died along the way; their journey too far to endure and their wounds too deep.

A Christian had the audacity to claim she had done nothing to me. Yes, she’s right. That is precisely the accusation I am levelling at her. How dare she attempt to claim “doing nothing” as a defence, especially when doing nothing is contrary to her own religious teachings?   

Christians cannot claim they have access to eternal life while they do not love their neighbour. It’s not a very perplexing parable from Jesus Christ: love your neighbour as yourself. Stop ignoring the plight of your wounded neighbours. There are plenty of us and we surround you every day. The Royal Commission has shone a spotlight on us. We’re no longer naked and injured. Many of us are now clothed although remain heavily scarred. We are the persecuted and under Jesus’ teachings[2], we may well be more entitled to eternal life or the kingdom of heaven than many Christians.

[1] Luke 10:25-37

[2] Matthew 5