Hindsight is 2020...
2020 has come to a close. At least we all hope so. 2021 is upon us and if you’re like me, it’s come with lots to ponder.
As I reflect on this previous year, I see some things that I believe the Lord is placing on my heart to exhort and challenge us to new places in connection, persistence, and love.
I don’t claim to know everything, I certainly don’t boast about practicing all of these things, but I do trust the voice of the Father, the Word of God, and the leading of Holy Spirit, and I have faith that these focus points are for believers in Christ Jesus to receive and put into practice for 2021 and beyond. With that stated, please read these with an open heart and prayerfully consider how you might not just know about these things, but how you can actively engage with the Lord as you implement them this year.
If 2020 showed me anything, it’s the fact that we need to be better neighbors. I witnessed incredibly awful gossip, slander, divisive comments, and poorly-researched claims during extremely complicated issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, racism, politics, an election, and many other topics. I saw how quickly people turned on each other, left relationships, placed blame, and chose to treat one another poorly.
Simply put, this past year I saw many examples of being bad neighbors. In 2020, love of neighbor, part of the Great Commandments from Christ Jesus to His followers (Mt. 22:36-40), was set aside for selfish motives and self-promotion. Certain Scriptures were elevated for political aspirations while other Scriptures were neglected because it caused too much discomfort and challenged the political views of many. Fear, worry, and self-preservation hindered a lot of church communities from actually loving their neighbors.
Don’t believe me? Just think about your local grocery store’s toilet paper aisle this last year. Still don’t believe me? Look at the COVID-19 numbers as they pertain to occupation, ethnicity, and socio-economic status. Want one more? Look at your social media feed from this last year pertaining to statements about politics, race, and the election.
Don’t hear me wrong. There were many beautiful demonstrations of love of neighbor this past year. I saw people devote themselves to care of the poor and oppressed. I saw many people choose to dig into uncomfortable topics to show compassion and openness toward their neighbors. I witnessed many churches/non-profits turn into food banks, make masks for their community, and open their doors to show love to their neighbors. The tireless efforts of first responders proved an immense and on-going love of neighbor.
The issue is that I continue to see people and organizations carry the load of being a good neighbor that is not meant to be carried alone. As Christ followers, our unity on this command is not negotiable. We are called to love God, love neighbor, love self, and make disciples.
Something that Jesus points out in Luke 10:25-37 is a key to practicing these commands. An expert of the law interacts with Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks what the law states, the man responds with the great commandments: to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells him this is correct, but then the expert of the law goes on to ask who his neighbor is.
Jesus’ response is the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which religious figures pass a man who was left for dead on the side of a road, but a Samaritan (an enemy to the Jews, one who believed differently the Hebrews, etc.) saw this man, cared for him, paid for his expenses, and gave to him out of his own resources. Jesus then links being a neighbor to compassionate effort and calls this expert of the law to do the same.
There’s so much to unpack in this Gospel account story, but in short, the Scriptural mandate for followers of Christ is to be a good neighbor through compassion, love, and care to those near us. Our neighbors are not just the people who look like us, speak like us, think like us, or vote like us. Our neighbors are those around us and those with whom we share this earth, and our call is to do as the Samaritan did in this story: show active compassion to one another.
In fact, I would go as far to say that Jesus reveals Himself as the ultimate “Good Samaritan” in the sense that He saw us dead on the road, healed our wounds, carried us to safety, gave us His Spirit to look after us, and continues to pay our expenses. Our goal is to be like Jesus and He’s made it abundantly clear that this can be done by being a good neighbor.
I write all of this to say that I believe the Lord has placed 10 postures on my heart as a challenge for the body of Christ to be a good neighbor in 2021. Again, please read these with an openness to grow and implement them in your life as the Lord leads you.
10 Ways to Be a Good Neighbor
Love God - I believe the only way we can actually be a good neighbor is if we first receive the love of God for ourselves. As those who are dearly beloved of the Father and called children of the Most High God, we must recognize that it is from our abiding in the Vine that our production of fruit happens. I cannot lead somebody where I haven’t been and I cannot extend something to somebody that I do not know about. Our goal is to receive God’s love and to give God’s love as He leads us, loves us, and calls us. When we focus on our first love, we are better empowered to love those around us and be good neighbors because our foundation is from relational connection with the Lord and understanding what it means to be a neighbor. So, get in the Word, spend time in prayer and worship, commune with Christ, welcome Holy Spirit to lead you, grow you, and stretch you. Focus on your first love and you will recognize the Lord will meet you and fill you with everything you need to be a good neighbor.
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself - The great commandment has some key components that I think are often overlooked. Many will rest in the call to love God and never get to the love of neighbor. Some will love their neighbor, but not as they love themselves. The call is to love our neighbor as ourselves. For some of us, that means we need to step up our game in loving our neighbor more as we do ourselves. For others, it means we need to extend more love and grace to ourselves so that we might better love our neighbor. We can be better neighbors by changing the way we think from, “What is best for me?” to “If I were in their shoes, what would be best for me?” Our change of thinking should be matched with a pursuit of the highest possible good for those around us as we would for ourselves. This is not to overlook the basic necessities we have or to kill ourselves for others, but to set forth a principle this year that states our goal is to love neighbor as we do ourselves.
Love with Love - Our call of being a good neighbor is one of love that is not defined by the world, but by the Word. Scriptural Love is Agape Love. It is the God-kind of love that seeks the highest possible good and contends for it until it’s a present-tense reality. We know love not because we loved first, but because God loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sin (1 Jn. 3:16, 4:10). We know a Scriptural love that is patient, kind, pursues justice, rejoices in the truth, and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13). In all honesty, this seems like a ton of pressure to try to fulfill a command to love in this manner. I’m not the Son of God, I can’t atone for sin, and I surely can’t be patient, kind, and not envious 100% of the time. I believe only God can fulfill this love because He is this Love. Our goal then is to love with the One who is Love. As we look to be good neighbors, our response should not be “How can I love them?” but rather “How is God loving them and how can I partner with Him?” Be a good neighbor by being a co-lover with God who is Perfect Love and is already loving your neighbors perfectly and inviting you to join Him.
Listen - When I think of good neighbors and communicators, I think of good listeners. I truly feel loved when I am not just listened to, but heard. Too often this last year, I saw many, including myself, who spoke before listening and hearing others. James’ call to the New Testament church was to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (Jms. 1:19).” Is it any wonder to us that the call to listen is first? I think if we listened more to one another we would find ourselves slowing to speak with a more well-balanced response and one that is given in love rather than anger or vengeance. We can be a good neighbor by listening more and listening more openly. Read books you haven’t before. Listen to podcasts and speakers you wouldn’t normally. Ask more questions, be aware of those around you, and listen with the intent to hear them. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason…
Hospitality - In my opinion, one of the greatest yet often overlooked spiritual gifts is hospitality. This has taken on a different meaning in this last year with shutdowns and lack of opportunity to host in homes, but it doesn’t mean that our creativity was shutdown. Drive-by birthday parties and graduation celebrations are forms of hospitality. Letters and Zoom calls are forms of hospitality. Making meals and dropping off treats are forms of hospitality. And I think more than ever, our goal of hospitality as a good neighbor in 2021 can be demonstrated as Henri Nouwen described it, “Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place. It is not to bring men and women over to our side, but to offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines.” Find some ways to practice hospitality that allows space for change and love to be known. It may not look like it always has, but it doesn’t mean we can’t give the effort to be a hospitable neighbor to those around us.
Honor - Bill Johnson defines honor as “when I treat you like I would treat Jesus.” This doesn’t mean I’m going to bow out your feet in worship, but I may bow at your feet to wash them. Our model is Jesus, our motive is Love, and our method is honor. Honor is our Scriptural call of viewing God’s mercy and bringing our bodies in reasonable service to the Lord (Romans 12). We are called to outdo one another with honor (Rms. 12:10). What if our method of being a good neighbor this year was looking at the person in front of us and treating them as we would Jesus? What if our pursuit was to wholeheartedly love and serve our neighbors in such a way that felt like royalty was bent over washing their feet? It’s not our job to dictate a person’s worth, Jesus already did that through the cross. Our job is to reveal a person’s worth in the way that we treat them and honor them.
Compassion/Empathy - One of the biggest struggles I saw in 2020 was compassion burnout. There were so many issues present, in our faces, and feeling like they would never stop. Pandemic numbers were always before us. Cries and protests for justice over race issues spanning centuries continued. We saw awful incidences, heinous crimes, and escalating mental health issues. Depression, anxiety, and many other mental illnesses skyrocketed this past year. And in the midst of it all, I couldn’t help but feel like I was losing my empathy muscles. I saw many others talk about COVID-19 like it was nothing in front of others who lost family members to the virus. I watched people dismiss others because they thought they were in the right only to belittle their friends and shut down those relationships. Beloved, our call is be a good neighbor like the Good Samaritan who “showed mercy”, “gave active compassion”, and “relieved misery”. We have a Great High Priest who knows our humanity and empathizes with our weaknesses. I believe His invitation this year is to continue to connect with His heart in such a way that our muscles of empathy and compassion don’t burnout, but grow for those around us. I would encourage you to ask the Lord how He feels about a person, circumstance, or situation this year, and then to act from that emotion.
Communicate with Grace - I can’t tell you how many times I witnessed people choosing the feeling of “being right” over the command of “being in right relationship.” From politics to racial division to many other topics, I witnessed and received communication that was not seasoned with grace. All too often I believe we loved to speak the truth rather than spoke the truth in love, and we missed the opportunity to engage in dialogue for the self-promoting pleasure of monologue. Paul instructed the Colossians to, “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Col. 4:5-6).” Our communication should be flavorful and full of the Good News. Our rightness should never trump our pursuit of right relationship. Our wise choice in 2021 should be to choose love rather than convenience. Maya Angelou is quoted saying, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I believe in this manner, our call in being a good neighbor is to choose to communicate in such a way that people remember the way they felt with us. Sometimes the truth hurts, sometimes love corrects, but it always leads to life. Our communication should too.
Give Generously - The thing that catches me about the story of the Good Samaritan is that he not only stops for this man of the road, shows compassion in healing his wounds, but then carries this stranger on his own donkey to an inn and covers every expense necessary. This is extreme generosity at its finest. This is the generosity of the early church that sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need (Acts 2:45). In fact, the early church was even known to not have any needy among them (Acts 5:34-35). I’m not calling us to socialism. I’m not saying that our manner of financial stewardship should be to give it all away. I’m saying that we are stewards of the gift of finances the Lord has given to us and our call is to give generously, cheerfully, and without hesitation. If the Lord is calling you give, do it. If you see a need, give. It’s not always about money or possessions. It can be relational, emotional, or spiritual. Our goal is to be aware of the reality that whatever we do for the least, we do to Christ. This last year I saw stories of generosity that proved to be the best form of communicating love, grace, mercy, and Gospel in certain contexts. Let’s be a good neighbor who doesn’t withhold our blessing to those around us.
Unity Trumps Disunity - I’ve been in arguments and debates. I’ve seen division and discrepancies. I’ve witnessed disagreements, but this past year showed us the ugly side of all these things. Especially within the church, I saw the inability to disagree and still choose unity. Our call is to “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3).” Simply put, I think we can be good neighbors by making every effort to keep the Spirit of unity. Marco Antonio de Dominis wrote, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, love.” I believe our goal in being a good neighbor is the same. Pursue unity in the essentials, allow freedom in the non-essentials, and always choose love. There are many people with whom I don’t agree. There are many parts of the church that have theological positions that I think cause harm and damage. I am outspoken, in love, about these issues, AND I choose to find unity and make every effort to keep that unity. Unity will always trump disunity, especially when our disunity is caused by pride. May we be good neighbors who choose to keep the Spirit of unity through the bond of peace, allowing freedom in non-essentials, unity in essentials, and in all things, love.
By no means is this list exhaustive, and I certainly did not write as much as I could have on each topic. My hope is that as the Lord has spoken to me about this past year and given me insight for this year ahead, that we would be encouraged as the body of Christ to be good neighbors and embrace the call of loving God, loving neighbor as ourselves, and making disciples.
Hindsight is 2020, but before us is 2021. Let us be a people marked by love, commissioned in grace, and filled with everything we need to be a blessing to those around us. I believe as we do, we will see the tides turn in this year, and we will experience the fullness of God’s promise. The best is yet to come. Amen.
