Our nearest neighbors when I was a child lived half a mile away, up over the hill and then some. Old man Crawford and his wife were hospitable folks, and we played in their yard from time to time, and later on watched their television when we had none of our own. For all of that, though, our visits were infrequent. One the other side of the hill, also about half a mile away, lived Percy Potter, an old man crippled by arthritis, and his brother Sammy. For years, we stopped by Percy’s house for a few minutes going to and from school, to talk a little bit but mostly to get candy. Percy attended the same Methodist church, just up the hill from his house, that my family did, but we really never knew him well. Both he and the Crawfords were neighbors, but not really friends. Most visiting took place among members of our family, especially with my older sister Zela in those early years.

Even though you might not people well, though, you could still count on a friendly word from them as you passed by their houses. Everyone had a front porch, and in warm weather that’s where people spent much of their time. Once I moved away from home, and lived mostly in towns and cities, I rarely saw those friendly customs. With the advent of air conditioning, television, vide games, computers, and VCR’s, most people were less and less inclined to spend time outside, or to visit their neighbors. By nature, I’m not a gregarious person, and I don’t establish new relationships easily. It’s a sad admission, but I have lived in my present neighborhood for almost six years, and still don’t know half of my neighbors. The fact that none of them have made an effort to get to me either doesn’t make me feel any better.

People who live in or around Pikeville know about Kentucky Avenue and High Street. These are a large part of our most infamous ghetto, soon slated to be torn down. The area is infested, not only with rats and roaches, but with drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. My family and I lived on Kentucky Avenue for ten long years. We had one friend on the whole street, our next door neighbor just up the street. Not only did we not make friends with anyone else, we regarded most of the people with suspicion and mistrust. Instead of seeing my time there as an opportunity to witness and minister, I hated every minute of that.

The Lord is still dealing with me in this area of my life, among many. The commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves doesn’t carry exceptions in. Christ made very clear that we don’t just love those who love us back; even sinners do that, he said. Although “neighbor” is a very broad term in the scriptures, since it refers to anyone we come in contact with, our first responsibility is to love those around us. That begins with our families, of course, then extends to those who live around us. The people we see every day at work certainly qualify as close neighbors; we often spend more time with then on a given day then we do with our families. I’ve worked with several people in my office for over twenty-one years, and probably know them better than I know many of my siblings, nephews, nieces, and in-laws.

Where we stand with our neighbors depends ultimately on where we stand with God. If we have unconfessed sin in our lives, our relationships with other people will be tainted. If we have fear in our lives because we don’t trust God’s care of us, we will be reluctant to start new relationships, or to take risks in existing ones. If we don’t enjoy close fellowship with our heavenly Father, we won’t be able to enjoy close fellowship with other Christians. If we don’t commune with God in prayer and feed on his Word privately, we shouldn’t be surprised if we derive little benefit from Sunday School and public worship. In short, if we don’t love God much, we won’t love one another very much either.

The Lord never leads me to write one of these devotionals that doesn’t apply to me as well. I am in no position to judge any of you for being poor neighbors, and have no place judging you anyway. Paul tells us in Romans 8:1,:”There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” and, in verse 31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” So regardless of what your relationship with your neighbors is, don’t start by condemning yourself for your shortcomings. The place we should start is always our relationship with God in Christ. If we get that right, everything else falls into place. As our pastor pointed out recently, when God asked Adam, “Where are you?” it wasn’t because he didn’t know. He wanted Adam to examine where his relationship with his Creator stood. For each of us, as well, the important question is, not what neighborhood we live in, but where we stand in the eyes of God. Where are you?

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JESUS IS the Bridge Ministries

Beneath His Wings Devotionals - Vol. 1