The modern understanding of Christ’s “love your neighbour as yourself” has inspired compassion wherever it has been embraced. It also opened the eyes of many to how loving ourselves – as God made us – and caring for ourselves – can go a long way in positioning us to love others rightly. However, over time, what began as a healthy realization – recognizing that self-care isn’t selfish – has morphed into something Jesus would hardly recognize. We’ve somehow created a culture where self-optimization trumps neighbourly obligation and where personal fulfillment outranks communal responsibility.
Every time we peek under the hood, past the PR and slick ads, we see systems that prioritize exponential growth, shareholder value, and personal advancement over human dignity and collective welfare. Healthcare systems maximize profit while patients struggle to afford basic care. Housing markets enrich investors while working families live in cars. Even, the attention economy monetizes outrage while corroding our capacity for nuanced understanding.
It is the more matured age of “me” – “My space”, “my time”, “my peace”. Unfortunately, in this world, everything is connected; and excess in one area, creates an imbalance elsewhere. That imbalance provides a backdrop against which Christianity can shine with renewed relevance. Today, where “loving yourself” has become the primary commandment, Jesus’s insistence on neighbor-love stands in radical contrast. The invitation is clear: What if every business measured success by the number of life’s changed as vigorously as it measured success by quarterly returns? What if every Christian professional viewed their expertise as a stewardship responsibility rather than just a path to personal advancement?
Consider from today to stop accepting self-focused systems as inevitable. Christianity offers an alternative vision where personal wellness and love for our neighbours can exist in proper balance. It challenges the assumption that greed is the only effective motivator for innovation or that exploitation is the necessary cost of efficiency.
Your profession, your business, your sphere of influence – are not just arenas for personal success. They’re laboratories where a different approach can demonstrate healing, save lives and bring light. In disciplines and industries fractured by self-interest, the Christian who embodies genuine neighbourly love and looks out for others, becomes not just a moral example, but a source of desperately needed solutions to the ills of modern society.