You can’t be a follower of Jesus if you don’t care about your neighborhood. 

Would you agree with that statement? My experience is that it’s true.

Before confronting me through a comment… hear me out:

Following Jesus means we look for what we see God doing around us and participate with God.

The only opportunity we have to look for God’s movement is around us is where we spend most of our time each day.

My definition of your neighborhood is just that… Where you spend most of your time.

Some of us spend a lot of time in our physical neighborhoods where we live. But for others, our neighborhood is where we work or go to school. Sociologists have said that skyways and workplaces are the neighborhoods of our day!

Whether your neighborhood is where you live, work, play or learn – you have a neighborhood.

And if you want to follow Jesus you have to look for his movement around you and live like Jesus in the neighborhood you find yourself in.

This summer I want to offer a challenge… do the “The Neighborhood Crawl” in your neighborhood.

That’s right, The Neighborhood Crawl. Week by week this summer engaging with your neighborhood in new ways. It will be different than a pub crawl or an art crawl… But it can be just as fun!

It will also be a challenge.

Would you push yourself to follow Jesus’ lead in your neighborhood?

Jesus stated the now famous words – “love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we haven’t taken the time to meet our neighbors (co workers, classmates, etc), then it must mean we think that Jesus was just offering a suggestion.

But we should remember he was declaring that this was the 2nd most important command in being one of his followers.

So the first step in the Neighborhood crawl is to turn that idea from a Jesus into the names of neighbors.

Every step of the neighborhood crawl will be simple concepts. They are just sometimes hard to take action and do.

So this week, meet just one new neighbor. That’s all and you’ve completed stop one on The Neighborhood Crawl!

I met my neighbor Micah the other day. He was putting a table out on the curb and putting a “free” sign on it.

I got his name and told him to stop by if he sees us in the yard. 15 minutes later, there he was around our bon fire with his puppy. He shared some of the stress of working two jobs waiting tables and let us each have a turn holding the cute little pup.

You can do it! Join in the Neighborhood Crawl!

The first stop on the trip is to meet just one neighbor in your neighborhood:

• Knock on the door to greet a person who just moved in.
• Standing next to the copier mention you haven’t actually met the person waiting in line with you and ask their name.
• Introduce yourself a person who works at the company next to yours.
• Get the name of the person who is always working next to you at your favorite coffee shop.

It’s simple… take courage and do it! STOP NUMBER TWO NEXT WEEK!

Are you in?