Who is my Neighbor?
Posted by: Jeff Adams in Ministry Musings, Scriptural Application for Everyday LifeYesterday in our study of The Mission we were talking about the different people groups of the world. The mission we have received is to make the Good News accessible to every ethnic group on the planet. This is quite an ambitious task, but clearly doable with today’s technology and modern transportation. All the technology and travel in the world is to no avail without an understanding of how to communicate effectively across language and culture. This is the hardest part of all.
An advantage of being a “church for all peoples” is that we have real life opportunity to communicate cross-culturally on a daily basis. This is an amazing advantage for raising children and also for our growth as adults. In our church you don’t have to search far to find someone from a different culture.
Let me reiterate something I said Sunday. One of the greatest gifts you can give to someone who is in our city from another culture is to invite them into your home for a meal. In many cultures, an invitation to a meal in someone’s home is like making a covenant of friendship and something that is taken extremely seriously. Sadly, there are countless thousands of foreign college students who spend years here without ever having the chance to be in a typical American home.
Not just students, but those who are here on business also appreciate an invitation to friendship. Our youngest daughter and her family met a Japanese family here on business through having children of the same age in school. The mother is an avid student of American culture, but had no contacts to be invited to American homes. We invited the family to a Christmas meal and they absolutely loved seeing our seasonal decorations and the inside of our home. A wonderful friendship has ensued and they have been back several times. Th e mother has even visited our daughter’s church – a huge step for her.
Here’s a very important element. Do NOT invite a foreign guest to your home just as a “hook” to “present the Gospel” to them or invite them to church. Do not do this unless you are willing to be friends no matter whether they ever come to share your faith in Christ or not. For many, many cultures, to invite someone to your home and then press your faith upon them, even in a gentle way, is considered the ultimate of insults and demonstrates the insincerity of your character, even if you consider yourself totally sincere. If you are living the life of Christ, your ensuing friendship will give you plenty of opportunities to answer questions and share you faith at some point in the future.
A lawyer once tried to trip up Jesus by asking him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds by asking him what the scripture says. The lawyer smugly quotes the law by saying that one should love God with all his heart, strength, soul and mind, and to love his neighbor as himself.
Jesus says that this is a fine answer, but that he should actually live this out in addition to being able to quote scripture. The lawyer, wanting to justify himself, asks Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In his mind the lawyer is probably categorizing different types of people to congratulate himself that he loves all the people who are like himself. Jesus, though, responds with the famous parable of the Good Samaritan, a story of selfless love that crosses fierce ethnic barriers.
Though the lawyer’s question had impure motives, let me throw it back at you. Who is your neighbor? Are you willing, like the Good Samaritan, to cross ethnic barriers to be a reflection of God’s saving love?
Some things to consider:
- How many people groups are represented in your immediate neighborhood?
- Remember how kids sometimes plays games in the car on a long trip by counting the state license plates they see? Why not see how many ethnic groups you can count at your local Wal-Mart (or similar store).
- How many different ethnic groups can you identify as servers in restaurants? You can say something like, “You are a great server and your English is impeccable. But I have a hobby of trying to identify accents. Could I ask where you are from originally?”
- Do you have any idea how many languages are spoken in your local school district? Why not find out!
- Who do you know at KCBT that is of ethnic group different from yours? Why not invite someone of a different ethnic group to your home for a meal?
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Very good word Jeff, thank you for standing up for the nations that God is bringing to our country. I agree whole heartedly!
Another suggestion might be to visit a different ethnic group’s church service for a day. There are many communities that have all-Korean, Chinese, etc. churches. We recently had the privilege of attending an all Hispanic Baptist church in southern California and really enjoyed the fellowship.
I also liked your comment about not extending an invitation to your home as merely a “hook” to present the gospel. Although I am all for various methods of evangelism (door-to-door, public ministry, etc.), I believe “invitations” such as these with false pretenses do more harm than good and can be a great hindrance to someone receiving the truth of the gospel.
I decided to take up your challenge to find out how many languages are spoken in the school district in which we live. I sent an e-mail to the public relations rep of the Independence School District and to date, I’ve not had a response, but I’m hopeful. Researched the demographics for Independence and at a mininum, I’d say there were 18 different languages, represented by the various people groups. Talk about a mission field in our own back yard!
You’ve mentioned inviting people over for a meal and that gave me an idea. There are about 30 flags in the main auditorium, representing the countires of origin at KCBT. What if KCBT had a Diversity Day? It would be fun to have folks bring traditional dish/meal, kinda like a potluck from 30 countries all in one place! Traditional dress could be worn. Such an undertaking would take a fair amount of prayer & planning, but it would be worth it.
Way to go, Lee! Great idea. Actually, we have had days when we encourage people to wear something representative of their native culture and they are always a blessing. We’ve also done some things with food. I’m sure we will do as you suggest in the future as well. Thanks!