Won’t You Be My Neighbor - Love your Neighbor as Yourself

via TJC

This week we are talking about spiritual weapons and wrestling with demonic powers, This is quite the topic, not addressed enough. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the ephesians, and it requires preparation for active engagement. His letter has three primary themes of love, oneness and holiness which are the ultimate weapons. Last week we discussed intimacy which certainly requires love, oneness and holiness as a married man and woman.

Jesus simplified all the commandments stating we are to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and then went onto say to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. TJC spent quite a bit of time in a “Dear neighbor” series a while ago, diving into cultivating love, oneness and holiness with our neighbors amidst tough topics about our cultural challenges. We have so many divisions in our society today, that make this a tough challenge. But why?

How do we share love, oneness and holiness with neighbors who live very different lives, different faiths, different family values, different political perspectives, and often seem to be very private? We often see our neighbors pulling into a driveway and garage opens, they pull in and the garage door closes. We see them walking with earbuds in. Everyone hangs out in their fenced in backyard.

We engage !

Do you really think you moved to that neighborhood just because the house had a great floor plan, it's zoned for the best schools, and it's convenient to transportation routes? Sure those come into your calculus, but God has a far bigger plan- He is all about place, and community.

You are where you live, amidst your neighbors for a reason, and a season, because God planted you there.

Every single one of us wants to be known and cared for. We live, move and have our being in our homes and neighborhoods as they are the most basic of shared human experience and relationships. Proximity matters, it's how we learn to see ourselves and the world. We engage and we learn to know and care for our neighbors, we learn from their experiences, we help one another. We talk about sports, lawn care, the new car, and soon begin to learn about their church because we ask, we aren't afraid to talk about the news, and our views, because we listen to theirs.

I have had 56 different addresses in my life, each one involved everything being packed and relocated, mail rerouted, cable restarted (before ditching it), and moving into new neighborhoods. Every time we wanted our kids to be safe, there was someone who would call me if the dog got loose, someone who would keep an eye on the house when we were away. Someone who knew us and would stop by for coffee or a beer and just share more about the best restaurants and local sites. And each place is remembered not because of a great family room, or easy walk to the neighborhood sports park; we remember the relationships and friends we made.

With so much division sowed by the enemy; we use our weapons wisely, and one of the strongest is our neighbors and friends who care for one another. Being a good neighbor isn’t about retreating -it's loving enough to step across the street and make sure their amazon packages are out of the rain till they get home. It's a oneness that we watch out for one another and meet a need we see when the neighbors car won’t start, it's a holiness that we are obedient to the Holy Spirit nudging us to check on the neighbor who just lost a spouse. It's learning about local issues, and their politics, which directly impact us for schools, emergency medical, property taxes more directly than the national election. Simple things but they build trust, laughter, sharing, and through that relationships and memories.

You weren't made to put on your spiritual armor and sit in your house walled off from others. Use spiritual weapons wisely; especially love, oneness and holiness starting with those people God placed you next to in your cul-de-sac.

Daily Battle Order:

Change where you drink your morning coffee, or a post work libation and sit out front for the next week, and be the weird guy and say hi to your neighbors. Re-ask them their name, that you forgot, and invite them over. Our best friends have all sat around our table, shared a meal, and laughed and sometimes cried with us. I bet the best stories not told yet., are Jesus hanging out around a table or a fire with his neighbors and friends. I bet they laughed a lot and talked about everything, and prayed together.

Invitation - for my neighbors in the Newnan Coggins Farm area - see you Saturday at 7am for coffee, pancakes and bacon. We will go around the group and share names (as I likely forgot some), and just get to know one another a little better. As Mister Rogers shared “won’t you be my neighbor”, instead of an acquaintance.