In this episode of the Get Up and Go Breakfast program on Radio Cape Pulpit, host Anton Brink speaks with Professor Dion Forster (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Stellenbosch University) about a challenging and deeply relevant topic: "The Neighbours We Cannot Avoid" – based on Luke 10:25-37, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Prof. Forster shares that the theme comes from his PhD student, Tiago Domelo Novais from Brazil, whose doctoral thesis is titled "The Neighbours We Cannot Avoid." Tiago's research explores religious and political polarization in Brazil – similar to the United States – where people align themselves with political figures and ideas, often attaching these to their faith. This can lead to families being broken because people begin to see those who differ from them not just as politically wrong, but as evil – even aligning them with the devil.
Prof. Forster explains that in Luke 10, a lawyer tries to trap Jesus with the question: "Who is my neighbour?" Instead of giving a list, Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan – and turns the question back on the lawyer: not "Who is my neighbour?" but "What kind of person am I? Am I worthy of being a neighbour to someone else?"
He shares a personal story: while travelling to speak to a group of Dutch Reformed and Uniting Reformed Church ministers about reconciliation, he got a flat tyre that had rusted onto his car. He prayed, "Lord, send me a good Samaritan" – and within minutes, a man in a beautiful big 4x4 stopped to help. Prof. Forster notes that this was not the kind of person he would have expected to stop – yet he was the one who helped.
His challenge to listeners: Sometimes we are the least expected person to be a neighbour to someone else – in our offices, communities, shopping malls, and even our families. He asks: "What might Jesus be inviting us to do to be good neighbours – even to those we don't like or trust?" He encourages listeners to ask the Holy Spirit for an idea of something they can do to be a good neighbour to someone else today.