This week I attended a conference at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall Texas. The conference was to equip church leaders in establishing a small group ministry among their members. I received a lot of good information and beleive this is the next step for the congregation I serve. That's not, however, the message of this post. I said all that to ask a question that God placed on my heart during the conference. Do you know your neighbors?
The lead presenter, Steve Gladen, said, "You need to cross the street before you cross the sea." That really hit home for me. I've gone on many international mission trips where I was able to preach, minister and witness for Jesus without regard for what the people thought of me. The goal was simply to make disciples of Jesus Christ using whatever Biblical means were available. But, when Steve suggested that we map out our neighborhoods I was ashamed to admit to the guy sitting next to me that I couldn't do that. You see, I don't know my neighbors. Don't get me wrong, I live on the end of a street so I only have one family living next to me and one person living across from me. I know them...the family living next to me are all Christians and we have often prayed together and "had church" in our dirveways that are side by side. The person living across from me is my Aunt and I pray every day for her to accept Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. But that's it. I don't know the rest of them. Oh, I know some of their names and I can even tell you when some of them cut their grass but I don't KNOW THEM. I have not taken the time to cross the street and get to know them.
Right about now you may be saying, "So what. Do you need to know them?" The answer is yes I do. The people living in my neighborhood are all people that Jesus Christ died for and I don't know if most of them have ever even heard of Jesus much less accepted Him as their Savior. For that...I'm ashamed and I will do something about it. Jesus said as He gave the Great Commandment that we should love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. I got the first part right...I love the Lord...but how can I love my neighbor if I don't even know them? I could make a bunch of excuses for why I don't know them but then we could all do that. The bottom line is we make time for what's important to us. I plan to make time for my neighbors. I want to get to know them. If any of my neighbors are reading this...this is fair warning: I'm coming across the street!
Do you know your neighbors?
I'm praying for you,
Pastor Greg
