Who Is My Neighbor in Business?

“Go and do likewise.”
— Luke 10:37 (ESV)

There’s a deep longing in many of us—not just to work well, but to make a real difference. For those leading missional enterprises, it’s not enough just to turn a profit. We want to be part of something that reflects God’s kingdom, that loves our communities well, and that participates in renewal.

What does it actually look like to love our neighbor through our business? Jesus answered that question not with a principle, but with a story.

The Story That Redefines “Neighbor”

When asked what it meant to love one’s neighbor, Jesus didn’t offer a list of qualifications or categories. Instead, He told a story that challenged their assumptions and made mercy personal.

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho…” (Luke 10:30)

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, we find a vivid picture of neighbor-love in action. A wounded man lies on the side of the road, ignored by the religious professionals who pass by on the other side. But a Samaritan, someone from a group despised by many of Jesus’ listeners, stops. He sees the needs and meets them, sacrificially taking the time and paying the cost.

Jesus ends the story simply: “Go and do likewise.”

Implications for Missional Enterprise

In a previous M3 Weekly article, we examined the kindness in action of the Good Samaritan, who very likely could be seen as a businessman on a business trip. For those of us building missional enterprises, Jesus’ command to “go and do likewise” prompts us to examine some key questions:

• What does love look like in action? (In the wages we pay, the products we produce, the workplace environment…)
• Where are the “roadsides” in our communities—those places that contain the vulnerable and broken, but that we find easy to avoid?
• Who are the people we tend to walk past, often without realizing it? (Persons from certain backgrounds or past life experiences, or certain socioeconomic classes…)
• What are the “robbers” in our context—factors that steal dignity, opportunity, or hope? (Exploitative systems, unjust wages, predatory practices…)
• Finally, how can we build neighbor-love into the fabric of our enterprises?

Missional business gives us the extraordinary opportunity to live out the answers to these questions in everyday places that touch countless lives.

Verse of the Week

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor…?” He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’” — Luke 10:36–37 (ESV)

Let’s consider committing some time this week to prayerfully ponder the questions above, and trust God to empower us with his grace to become leaders who notice, respond, and build expressions of Christ-driven neighbor-love into the enterprises he has entrusted to us.