I think one of the most important lessons in my life journey has been to better understand how we love God and what this has to do with our neighbors. Over the last three years I have had the privilege of doing lots of different things that have allowed me to meet new friends both in my neighborhood and outside. It is so easy for me to assume that loving God is totally a by-product of going to church and doing a certain routine that can totally ignore the people around me.
As I read Jesus’ explanation in Matthew 25 I am taken back. I can understand how quickly his disciples didn’t get what he was saying. They never saw their teacher in any great need. So he how can he talk about their feeding him, clothing him, visiting him in prison, giving him a bed at night, etc… Jesus defined the total law of the torah in a very simple triad, Love God, Love neighbor and love self! I know that it is easy to attempt to love God in a total vacuum. Yet, Jesus forces us to step back and see that the only way we can talk about loving God is by how we treat our neighbors.
I know that most middle class Christians who live in the suburbs isolate themselves from those who are in real need and hurting in their cities. It is so easy to purposely go around the needs of a city or neighborhood. I have chosen to be neighborhood driven in all that I do. Each day I drive through my neighborhood and see the impact that sin, poverty and drug – gang violence have on people. So Jesus’ indictment is overwhelming, if you haven’t helped or loved on one of those in real need then you haven’t loved me. Ouch!
So how do we live out the gospel without putting a guilt trip on those who don’t understand the needs of the neighborhood? How does someone who thinks church is just on Sundays get stretched to see the bigger picture of God’s transforming love? I know for me it has been through simply doing mercy work in my neighborhood. I have been spoiled to meet some incredible people who help me see that it is worth it. It is more blessed to give than receive.
As I birth a church and non-profit that are called to impact a neighborhood and see total revitalization I have no choice but to see loving God from the perspective of loving people that are usual forgotten. This is never to say that they aren’t people, kids or grandmas who don’t deserve attention – they do. How can this transformation take place? I must choose to be with these friends, in such a way, that I get to know them and they get to know me. The challenge is that this takes time and a willingness to live life their way and not put them on my timetable.
So loving God, which the Bible does define as worship, then is something that goes beyond the walls of any church. Jesus’ church was outdoors without any walls. He casts a rather convicting vision that to say we love him without loving on our forgotten neighbors means we really don’t know him. So the person walking the streets without a home I am called to care about. The single mom who is totally exhausted after working and caring for her kids I am supposed to find out her needs and help. The rebellious teen that is always doing crazy stuff I need to be less quick to judge and more open to understanding. I am thankful that God has chosen to love me regardless of how I am doing on loving my neighbors. My wife often says that we are called to love the mutants because we are mutants that don’t fit in many places.
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