The Art of “Neighboring”

Moody Radio personality Janet Parshall shared that our greatest mission field is between our two feet. Where you live, shop, work, and play are unique locations where God has positioned you to be “salt and light” (Matt 5:13-16) to a hungry world. Jesus clearly places a high priority on reaching our neighbors, for He stated that the second greatest commandment is to “love your neighbors as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

Linda and I are involved with one of The Navigators missions called “Neighbors.” At a recent Neighbors conference, Pastor Dan Gulnac poignantly shared,

“There are no seeker churches anymore. We live in a post-Christian world where people are not seeking God. Therefore… we need to be the seekers and go engage our neighbors.”

The art of neighboring is simply stepping outside our comfort zones to intentionally engage our neighbors, the clerk at the post office, your hairdresser and all the people you interact with on a regular basis. At our favorite local restaurant, we have become friends with Margaret Ann, a salty and sassy elderly waitress who we enjoy engaging as we eat our meal. We are creating a relationship to earn the right to share our faith. Also, as we walk through our neighborhood, we pray for our community and for opportunities to meet neighbors we don’t yet know.

Others we met at this regional event moved their grills and chairs from the backyard to the front yard to enjoy cookouts and converse with people walking on the sidewalk…even asking them to come join them for a burger. Another couple has a community Christmas tree lighting in their backyard. And others invite neighbors they don’t know over to dinner. Neighboring is simply about finding ways to get to know your neighbors (who after Covid, are just as interested in making new friends as we all are!), learn about them, and have an opportunity to earn the right to speak into their lives as opportunities arise.

If this blog has sparked your interest, please check out our resource section for a super book called Finding Home: Exploring God’s Dream in Our Neighborhoods. This is a quick read (really!) with study questions that would be ideal for individual or small group study. It shares the biblical basis for reaching our neighbors and how to create a prayer walk to develop opportunities to reach your neighborhood. And at the end are additional resources that are worth considering as well.

Let’s take the opportunity we’ve been given as a result of the pandemic to reach out to those hungry for relationships again. Let’s choose to intentionally love our neighbors. Remember, a friend is simply a stranger you haven’t yet met.