#3 It's as radical as hello

It’s that simple and that radical. Community begins and ends with us, and with us knowing each other. Meet you neighbor, your co-worker, and everyone else who crosses your path day in and day out. Then you can build community right where you are.

Ten Things Progressive Christian Do:#3 Meet Their Neighbors   

Okay, okay. I hear you! #3 seems progressive christian “light” compared to #1 Pray & #2 Enjoy Sex. #1 points to serious religious commitment and #2, well, it’s in your face contrary to religious culture. But #3? What’s the big deal about meeting your neighbor? That doesn’t seem so radical, right? Wrong.

Jesus commanded his followers to love their neighbors. It is the central building block of christian belief. This frank command to love neighbor has shaped social, legal, economic, and cultural thought. Yet in our modern day culture, sadly, many of us (especially those of us living in the northeast) do not even know the person or family living right next door. 

Don’t lie: Do you know your neighbor?  And if you are confident enough to answer yes, do you know who lives two houses down, or the name of the person you see almost every day leaving your building to catch the same train? If you can answer yes to these questions, answer this: do you truly know any part of your neighbor’s story? 

We live in a culture that increasingly values social isolation. We have moved from the front porch of our homes to the private back deck. We have replaced face to face communication with posts on facebook. We text instead of acknowledge the person sitting right next to us in the doctor’s office. 

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I’m a bit odd. I feel utterly uncomfortable being in close proximity with someone and not striking up some small conversation. I have a deep desire to be connected with other people. Perhaps you could call this pathological extrovertism, but truth is, I am not as extroverted as many people think. On the Myers-Briggs test I come out as an “I”—an introvert. So why do I need to communicate with everyone from the store clerk to the person riding the elevator in the hospital, from the college student beside me on the train to the shy mother who walks her son to school every day in front of my house? 

The answer is twofold. First I am a lover of stories. To me, the world is a giant book store filled with great novels. I want to read them all. The novels just happen to be people. Human stories are like push pins dotting a map, revealing God’s presence interlacing this vast world.  

Second, I desperately want to live in the heart of community. I want to support others and be supported by them, I want to celebrate with others, lament with others, I want to move through all the depths of life within community. Perhaps for this reason I volunteer for my kids’ schools and extracurricular activities—not because I have time—but because I want my communities to flourish. 

The only way a community can flourish is if we know each other. For this reason, I can’t keep my mouth shut when a mom shows up bald dropping her kids off to school or when I notice that the grocery bagger’s face is streaked with tears. I can’t keep my mouth shut when a child joyfully dances from school or the solar panel company pulls in down the street. I also can’t keep my mouth shut when a teenager drives too fast in a parking lot filled with children. Community takes engagement, and community engagement begins with knowing just who your neighbor is. We begin with “Hello,” and move on from there.  

It’s that simple and that radical. Community begins and ends with us, and with us knowing each other. Meet you neighbor, your co-worker, and everyone else who crosses your path day in and day out. Then you can build community right where you are.

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