Let’s make sure we’re doing things for the right reason. Loving our neighbors is exactly what we mean—it’s an agenda of love driven by our faith in Christ. It’s about taking time out of our busy lives to build relationships and truly get to know the people who live and work around us.
Know their names.
Know their stories.
Know them.
Love them.
What it’s not: This is not about seeing people as “projects” to persuade them to convert to Christianity. This is not about hidden agendas or coercion or manipulation. This is not a secret church membership drive.
In fact, if anything, we are not trying to convert people outside our churches to Christianity as much as we are trying to convert ourselves to be more faithful in following in the Way of Jesus and love our neighbors we have been overlooking.
We can’t change anyone. But we can trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in all of this. Trust in this.
Some of you might be familiar with the song, “They will know we are Christians by our love?” Here’s the big big question! How will the community around our churches ever know we are Christians by our love if we never even take the time to know and love our neighbors?
