And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
He said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you read it?
And answering, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
And He said to him, You have answered right; do this and you shall live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:25-29)
For some time now this phrase 'who is my neighbour?' has been ringing in my ears. Only two weeks ago a young man was stabbed only a stones throw from my flat in Hackney. I didn't know who he was. Even though I am surrounded by people I don't really know many of them.
In the course of sharing the Gospel with people over the years, I have found time and time again, that the people I have seen come to Christ, and stay walking with Him, have been those I have taken the time and trouble to get to know. Eating together, praying together, travelling, jogging or fishing together.
There are many trends in evangelistic techniques and emphases but one thing remains constant - the Word of God. Jesus' commands were mostly quite straightforward, not neccesarily easy to obey, but easy to understand. Love God, love people. As the evangelist who trained me used to say, 'love is spelt T.I.M.E.' In order to win people and demonstrate the love of God we first need to know THEM. To spend time listening first and speaking second.
As the story of the Good Samaritan indicates there are very often people that we just pass by and overlook - fear, prejudice and wrong judgements can cloud our spiritual perception and cause us to miss God's will and direction, to overlook those in need of help. I hope and pray that God gives us, His Church, eyes to see our neighbour through His eyes and open doors of opportunity so that we know the answer to the question, 'who is my neighbour?'.
He said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you read it?
And answering, he said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
And He said to him, You have answered right; do this and you shall live.
But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:25-29)
For some time now this phrase 'who is my neighbour?' has been ringing in my ears. Only two weeks ago a young man was stabbed only a stones throw from my flat in Hackney. I didn't know who he was. Even though I am surrounded by people I don't really know many of them.
In the course of sharing the Gospel with people over the years, I have found time and time again, that the people I have seen come to Christ, and stay walking with Him, have been those I have taken the time and trouble to get to know. Eating together, praying together, travelling, jogging or fishing together.
There are many trends in evangelistic techniques and emphases but one thing remains constant - the Word of God. Jesus' commands were mostly quite straightforward, not neccesarily easy to obey, but easy to understand. Love God, love people. As the evangelist who trained me used to say, 'love is spelt T.I.M.E.' In order to win people and demonstrate the love of God we first need to know THEM. To spend time listening first and speaking second.
As the story of the Good Samaritan indicates there are very often people that we just pass by and overlook - fear, prejudice and wrong judgements can cloud our spiritual perception and cause us to miss God's will and direction, to overlook those in need of help. I hope and pray that God gives us, His Church, eyes to see our neighbour through His eyes and open doors of opportunity so that we know the answer to the question, 'who is my neighbour?'.
1 comments:
I soooo agree!! I've often wondered if it part of living in London or whether it's part of todays culture. We don't know our neighbour. Even though I'm a relational person - I still don't know much about those living around me....
I think 'The Big Lunch'(http://www.thebiglunch.com/) has the answer... inviting people for lunch or street parties... getting to know your neighbours.
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