My wife and I live across the street from the best neighbors ever. We see them at least every other day and greet each other with a hug. Our daughter absolutely loves our neighbors (sometimes it makes me jealous) and asks to go over to their house at least once a day. Because of our deep friendship (and the fact that my little girl loves them) they often come over to baby sit on 5 minutes notice.

Without these fine people, our quality of life would be greatly diminished. And, we improve their quality of life too. When the dad was working out of town and the mom was working nights, Jess and I kept their daughter many nights. She now refers to us as her other parents (which earns her funny looks because we are not the same ethnicity).

Here’s my point, neighbors should be friends. It improves your life and theirs. It provides a support structure that can react quickly to help with all of your needs. And, most importantly, this is the best method of evangelism!

What really kills me about our culture is the isolation of families. Most families stay in their homes with their eyes glued to the TV 24/7, and never get outside to enjoy the neighborhood they live in. Those families are missing out. They are involving themselves in digital communities that don’t really exist, entering them as a spectator. Instead, they should be participating in the community that exists right outside their front door, joining in as a participant.

What also kills me is the tendency of church people to trade their neighborhood community for their church community. They think, “well, I’m involved with people at church, so when I come home I don’t want to be bothered with more people to talk to and deal with”. These people are missing out, and missing the point of the gospel all together.

We should not be so busy with our church that we neglect the neighborhood we live in, I would venture to call that sin. The church should be a community that supports our involvement in the greater community around us, not an all encompassing burden that eats away our time and energy leaving us to sit at home, worn out, with our blinds drawn and doors locked.

So, here is my encouragement to you. Get involved in your neighborhood. Meet as many people as you can. If you think you are too busy but you spend a ton of time at church each week, pull back from church so that you can be a light within your own neighborhood.

Open the blinds, walk outside, enjoy the day and the neighborhood that God has given you.

Better is a neighbor who is near
than a brother who is far away.
-Proverbs 27:10b