It all began several months ago in the spring, just as the weather took a turn for the better and neighbors began to emerge from their homes after a long cold winter. Walking down the back alley on my way to work I saw her, my six-year-old neighbor. Walking by and saying hello, the first words out of her mouth were not, “hi” or “hello” in return, but rather, “Eric, my dad hates you.” Ouch! How is a person to respond to such a statement?
Perhaps I should mention one of our first interactions with this same little girl a year prior, just as Shelly and I were preparing to move into our new house on her street. As a way of introducing ourselves to our neighbors, Shelly and I had made cookies to deliver door to door. After making three batches of cookies (which, to you non-bakers out there, equates to nearly 50 cookies), we realized that something went wrong with the recipe. The cookies were a disaster, both in taste as well as in presentation. Being the frugal and impatient man that I am, I told my wife that we were delivering the cookies regardless as we had made way too many and it took too much time to simply throw them away. Besides, it was the thought that counted, right? Shelly agreed reluctantly. Walking down to our new house a few days after our cookie delivery we saw our little neighbor girl. Passing her as she played on the sidewalk she asked, “Did you guys make those nasty cookies?” Not quite sure how to respond, and whether or not to even claim the cookies, we reluctantly said “yes” and moved on. Thus began our relationship with this little girl and her family.
For numerous reasons, far too many to share now, I have sought to “love my neighbor”, but this has not resulted as I anticipated. To be honest, I never would have guessed that one and a half years later I would be hated by my neighbor rather than received and welcomed. With good conscience I can share that I have checked my heart and seriously considered whether or not I have wronged my neighbor. There have been at least two occasions where I was in the wrong. Being made aware of this I quickly repented and in turn went to ask my unbelieving neighbor for his forgiveness as I had failed to love him.
The challenge that I am presented with today is, “How do you love your neighbor when they hate you?” For myself I come to two conclusions in how I can respond. One, I can in turn become bitter, knowing that I have done my best to love this man well, to the point of humbling myself and serving him with my time, emotions and finances. As much as my flesh desires to respond this way, I have a sense within my heart that this isn’t Christ’s call in how I am to love my neighbor, even one that hates me. This leads me to my second possible response, that of following the example of Christ. In a lesson on loving your neighbor, Jesus instructed the crowds to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you… if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” (Matthew 5:43, 46). Now the rubber hits the road. I’m in the thick of it, called to love my neighbor whose lifestyle and life philosophy is miles apart from that of my own. To be brutally honest, he is not an easy man to love. I grieve as I watch this little girl run free in our neighborhood. I absolutely despise his Pit Bulls. I would love to bulldoze the vacant, run-down, trashed back house on their property. Jesus does not provide an excuse for me to not love my neighbor. In fact, He tests me in how much I truly love as He has loved me. Yet while I was a sinner, Christ died for me…and for you… and for my neighbor. The question is, “Will I love my neighbor now?
By Eric Basye
