Loving Our Neighbors

The Gospel as the Ethical Momentum for Innovative Faith Communities

I remember the family well. They lived around the corner from our house. They were poor and were renting a run-down house. They were a bi-racial family, with three children who were often active in the neighborhood. The mother worked a low-wage job. I am not sure what the dad did, but I often saw him walking around. They did not own a car, so they would go to the nearby 7-11 for groceries. Their children attended the same school as my kids and were quite bright, but they did not have much opportunity. They were our neighbors. And as I saw them regularly, I wondered, what is my responsibility to this family? How does the gospel shape my interactions with them?  What does it mean to love them?

“If our church disappeared, would the community care?” This was the question that haunted Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson several years ago and forced their congregation to rethink the focus of their church to be “externally-focused.”¹ It was this question that led them into their community to connect with schools, hospitals, and city leaders as a means to demonstrate the gospel in deed through acts of service and mercy. I, like many other ministers, have used that question as a way to challenge our church communities to turn to the neighborhood and resist a self-focused posture. But then, Rusaw and another minister, pondered an even deeper question, “Would my neighbors care, if I left?”² This question is deeper, challenging, and personal. The first question brings a lot of volunteering and church service projects, but the second question gets at the heart of being a disciple. Am I the kind of neighbor described in Luke 10:25-37? 

Churches in North America find themselves in a de-centered position. As Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge have noted, America may be in the biggest religious shift in its history, as 40 million people have stopped going to church in the last 25 years.³ Many churches everywhere are feeling the effects of this shift with empty pews, vacant classrooms, and lower offerings. While the call to make disciples rings strong, many Christians are at a loss on where to even begin in evangelism. Tim Keller noticed this evangelistic disconnect among many Christians when he wrote, “Traditionally, American cultural institutions produced people who – whether they professed Christianity or not – had beliefs in a personal God, an afterlife, and moral absolutes. Virtually all Christian strategies for evangelism and church growth are geared to people with traditional ‘background beliefs.’ But such people are fewer and older, and conservative Protestantism, in general, does not know how to evangelize and win secular people.”⁴ So where do churches begin who desire to proclaim the gospel to a secular-emerging culture? How do churches cultivate a missional posture that engages their community at a deeper level than simply service projects and non-profit partnerships? Maybe a place to start is in learning to practice “gospel neighboring.”⁵

To be a gospel neighbor means to take seriously the second greatest command of Jesus: “Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:37-40).” This command, which finds its origin in Lev. 19:18 is quoted eight times in the New Testament.⁶ It means to engage the people around you with the love of God and the compassion of Jesus, starting with those who live near you, expanding out through your city networks, with an eye to those who live globally. It means engaging a secular culture from a place of “humble responsibility” rather than proud activism or altruism.⁷ Maybe in a word, it means creating shalom among those near us. It is living out the words of Jer. 29:7 where Jeremiah urged the Israelite exiles in Babylon to seek the “shalom” of the city where they had been sent, or in a phrase, to love their neighbors.

Civic leaders realize the need for shalom, although they might not know how to articulate it. Dave Runyon tells the story about how he was in a meeting of ministers in the Denver area and they asked the mayor to speak to them about the needs of the city. The mayor gave the usual list of social needs – better education, accessible health care, rising crime. But at the end of the speech, the mayor remarked, “if we could just figure out a way to become a community of great neighbors,” a lot of the problems would go away. Runyon was stunned because the mayor was telling ministers if they would go back and teach the second half of the greatest commandment, their city would be a better place.⁸ Cities depend on neighbors. Crime does not go down, simply by heavier police presence, but by neighbors looking out for one another. Education does not improve, simply by larger school staffs, but by parents who see the children of their neighbors as “our” children too. Health care is not effective, simply by efficient ERs or available doctors, but by neighbors caring for the health of those nearby. And what if Christians were the “leaven” in our society that sought to build that kind of community, or shalom.

I have always been struck by Luke 15 where two of the three stories where something is lost – a sheep and a coin – describes a celebration of finding that missing item that involves neighbors. The shepherd brings home the missing sheep and “calls together his friends and neighbors” (Lk. 15:6). The woman, upon finding the coin, calls her “friends and neighbors” (Lk. 15:9). Unfortunately, that would not be my response of finding something of significance. I might call my family and a few close friends, but not my neighbors. But these two characters had a community and they were participants in that community. So, in a moment of celebration, they wanted to celebrate with their community. What if Christians were community-builders? In their cities, in their schools, and among their neighbors. What if neighborhood residents celebrated when disciples of Christ bought a home in their neighborhood or moved into their apartment complex, because they knew that this family is going to care about the shalom of our community and be gospel neighbors? 

Disciples of Jesus should be “placed” people. We should be people who care about place and context. Neighborhoods, for many people, are a means to an end. It is simply a utilitarian location for us to park our cars and rest our heads, so we can wake up and go to school and work the next day. We often view our cities in the same way: a location that offers good amenities and benefits to raise a family. But Christians view their context differently, because of the Incarnation. When the incarnated presence of God entered the world, He did not do so generally.  God came to a place. “God moved in, changed His address to “earth” and got his hands dirty in the everyday of living.”⁹ Or as Peterson phrased it, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”¹⁰ This is the power behind the phrase, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus had a place.  He had a residence. He had neighbors. The Incarnation is not just about God being “enfleshed”, but it is also about God being “enplaced.” What does it say about our God, that when He came into the world, He did not move into a palace, temple, or synagogue. But he was born in a manger, raised in a village, and lived among neighbors. This truth changes the lens by which we view our neighborhood and cities. Instead of a functional lens, we use a missiological lens and we wonder, “How can we bring the aroma of Christ to this place?” Or to put it another way, “How can we be gospel neighbors?”

Right now, America is ripe for the gospel to be demonstrated through a “gospel neighbor.” Currently, America’s culture is battling an epidemic of loneliness.¹¹ The loss of social institutions and other community-building organizations have left people feeling isolated and alone – people in need of a neighbor. Graham, Davis, and Burge note that while millions have “dechurched” recently, often they do so for casual reasons: getting too busy, COVID-19, or especially, moving to a new location.¹² What better way to offer an invitation to return to church – through getting to know your new neighbor? But at a deeper level, in an emerging secular paradigm, belonging becomes more important than believing. As Christians demonstrate the practices of being a good neighbor – hospitality, kindness, and care – those near us are welcomed into a community of belonging, from which the message of the gospel can be experienced and shared.¹³

Over 40 years ago, Bob Lupton began working with at-risk youths in Atlanta, GA. After several years of doing so, while he and his family lived in the suburbs, they made the decision to move into the neighborhood, where Bob was working. It was a risky decision at the time. The neighborhood was a low-income neighborhood. Bob’s family would be a minority. The public schools in the area were not strong. Yet they did it, because they knew that if they were going to demonstrate the gospel in this place, it started with them learning to be gospel neighbors. Later, Bob would write these words about community development, “Programs do not restore communities. Only neighbors can do that.”¹⁴ How can a church demonstrate the gospel in word and deed in a place? How can a community of believers bring about shalom in the community? How do disciples engage in evangelism in a secular culture? How do we make a Kingdom difference in our cities and neighborhoods? It does not start with programs. Only gospel neighbors can do that.

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Steve Cloer is an Assistant Professor of Ministry at Harding School of Theology where he teaches courses in congregational ministry, mission, and leadership. He also directs the Doctor of Ministry program. He has served in youth ministry, campus ministry, and preaching ministry. Most recently, Steve was the preacher for Southside Church of Christ in Fort Worth, TX for 15 years. Steve and his wife, Lindsay, have three children, Joshua, Bethany, and Lydia and reside in Memphis, TN.

1. Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, The Externally Focused Church, Loveland, CO: Group, 2004.

2. Rick Rusaw and Dave Mathis, The Neighboring Church, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2016, 7.

3. Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge, The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will it Take to Bring Them Back, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2023, 3.

4. Tim Keller, The Decline and Renewal of the American Church, The Gospel in Life, 2022, 29.

5. Tim Keller, “Loving our Neighbors and Walking With Them Through Their Valleys,” Life in the Gospel, 2021. https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/loving-our-neighbors/ 

6. Mt. 5:43; 19:19; 22:39; Mk. 12:31; Lk. 10:27; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8.

7. Chris and Elizabeth McKinney, Placed for a Purpose: A Simple and Sustainable Vision for Loving Your Next-Door Neighbors, Austin, TX: GCD Books, 2020) 22.

8. Dave Runyon and Jay Pathak, The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2012, 18-20.

9. Bruce McLarty, Journey of Faith: Walking with Jesus through the Gospel of John, Searcy, AR: Resource Publications, 1997, 35.

10. John 1:14, The Message (Paraphrased).

11. Chris and Elizabeth McKinney, Placed for a Purpose, 6.

12. Graham, Davis, and Burge, 61.

13. For more on engaging the emerging secular paradigm, see W. Jay Moon and W. Bud Simon, Effective Intercultural Evangelism: Good News in a Diverse World, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021.

14. Robert Lupton, Return Flight: Community Development Through Re-Neighboring our Cities, Atlanta, GA: FCS Urban Ministries, 1993, 17.