Taking and making the time to love your neighbour
This is the third post in the Sharing Faith Simply series from Giles Holloway. Read back through the previous posts by clicking these links:
If you read my previous piece on Sharing Faith Simply you’ll know that time is the number one resource when it comes to building relationships. Without taking time to stop and chat with folk, we’ll never build relationships where we can share our life and faith in a genuine way.
The trouble is that our time is limited, so what can we do about that? What would Jesus do if He were you? Based on his example from the Gospels, I suggest there are two things:
Prioritise
First, Jesus radically prioritized individual interactions: that is, taking the time to love His neighbour! We all agree that we are awfully busy, but we also spend an average of three hours per day on a screen. Fewer social media posts and must-see box-set binges might just make us less busy!
“But Jesus didn’t have to worry about technology!”, I hear you protest. Correct, but he still had to prioritize. When many felt He should be hurrying towards the gravely-ill daughter of a synagogue leader, he stopped to engage with a woman who touched the hem of his garment and was healed (Mark 5:21-43). Imagine the pressure on Jesus to hurry on!
When the disciples were set on getting lunch, Jesus had other food in mind - “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me,” (John 4:34) – so He sat by the well and led a whole village to faith.
Mother Teresa, too, was never short of opportunities to demonstrate her faith because she made a practice of stopping for the one. Often, our best opportunity to love our neighbour is when they are in need. Their need may well come at a time that’s inconvenient for us, so we might need to radically reorient our priorities.
We’re most likely to encounter a neighbour in need when we are out and about, rushing to or from somewhere. Most of my conversations with neighbours take place at the threshold of our property, in the liminal spaces of transition. If we are running late and in a rush, we hardly have time to say hello, let alone to follow up with, “How are you?” and listen for an honest answer.
If we slow down, create extra margins in the day, and leave some wriggle room in our schedule we’ll be amazed by how many more opportunities present themselves, and how many more times we are able to use those opportunities to love and serve others.
Plan
Secondly, Jesus planned to share good news. Jesus was a master of responding to needs in front of Him, but He also had a genius plan for reaching the many through all nations and all of time. As the “Lord of the harvest”, He sends us out as “workers into His harvest field” and Luke 10:1-20 reveals His strategy of sharing good news and also demonstrating it. He empowers his followers to preach and heal in His name, and the genius is that this multiplies the effects of what Jesus has been doing.
John tells us that “God so loved the world that He sent His only Son,” and, “He moved into the neighbourhood.” (John 3:16 and John 1:14, Message Translation), but that limits Him to time and space. By sending all his disciples (John 20:21) and commissioning all to take His message to every tribe and tongue, He planned to use all of us to be His hands and feet wherever He places us.
Jesus didn’t expect to do it all himself and neither should we, but He does expect us to do it where we are and raise others to do the same. Practically, this starts with our neighbours and networks, family and friends.
We recently put this into practice by planning a Platinum Jubilee tea party for the ten households that surround us. We earmarked three hours in our week to spend with our neighbours, sent out an invite and everyone turned up! We had a wonderful time getting to know the people in our community, and we even began to share our faith with some.
So, over the Summer months, why not make space in your schedule to prioritise time with others and plan how you might develop relationships with neighbours and share your faith simply with them.