My neighborhood, just outside of Washington, DC, has a strong sense of local community. I know the people on our block, and I love bumping into folks—at PTA meetings, sports outings, or the grocery store. My neighborhood has quaint traditions: We celebrate holidays with cookie exchanges. Local groups play music on front lawns in the summer. On these lovely nights when people are walking the block, I don’t see the divisions and divides that worry me when I read the news.
So I was surprised a couple of months ago to find out that I didn’t actually know many of my neighbors.
Earlier this week, CSA Executive Director Nikki Toyama-Szeto wrote an article for Christianity Today outlining a biblical framework she uses to help her discern how to follow through on Jesus’ commands to love our neighbors. Incorporating and bridging the most local and most global perspectives doesn’t seem intuitive at first, but it’s actually baked into Jesus’ final commands to his apostles.
You can read the entire article at Christianity Today.
Nikki Toyama-Szeto is the Executive Director of Christians for Social Action.
