The Art of Neighboring: Building Genuine Relationships Right Outside Your Door

This is a very easy and quick read on Jesus' command to "Love your neighbor." There were a few good practical recommendations on how to start and manage neighbor relations. If anything it's a great challenge to reach out to those directly around your home.

A lot to reflect on and think about in this book. The thesis is the question "who is my neighbor?" and what did Jesus mean when he called us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We do well loving neighbors across the country and around the world, but how do we do with the people next door? Perhaps when Jesus said love your neighbor as yourself, he meant the actual neighbor who lives next door. What would change if we, as Christians, took up the challenge to get to know, befriend, and love the people who lived right there on our blocks? Lots of fodder for sermons here as well as practical challenges for all of us to embrace.

I am not sure that this is what Jesus meant by loving your neighbor. I do believe that we need to know and love those that live in our area, but in many areas, this is just not a practical application of Jesus' words. Many areas are rural, with few neighbors. It is great if you live in suburban America, but a lot of people do not. The commandment to love your neighbors must extend past the people with similar backgrounds, jobs, and resources.

3.5-4 stars. I really appreciated the practicality included here (love me some action items, lol!).

The read is definitely longer than it needs to be, imho, so can be skimmed through at times for the truly solid-gold nuggets.

This book looks at what it would be like to take Jesus's command to "love thy neighbor" seriously. Chock full of practical ideas on how to engage with your neighbors, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who is looking to engage with their neighbors and neighborhood on a deeper level. The authors share many personal stories of how they have lived this out and how it has transformed their communities. There is a discussion guide at the end of the book that would be perfect for small groups or just personal reflection.

Where Richard Stearns in The Hole in our Gospel (my book review in Dutch) challenges his readers to take the second commandment (love your neighbour as yourself) bloody serious, Jay Pathak & Dave Runyon stay close to home. What if Jesus meant that we should love our actual neighbors?
Modeled as a block map exercice the authors ask their readers to name everyone in the 8 houses around them, mention some basic facts such as profession, family size and hobbies, plus detailed, more personal insights such as needs and worries. Don’t worry, you’re not alone when you can’t fill out the 8 squares in the block.
Enter The Art of Neighboring. Forget about easy bumper stickering or have fellowship with believers only. Do your neighbors know you show more and vice versa? What should be the motivation to build relationships right outside your door? Try to sell them Jesus? Convert them, or just share your life. Show, don’t tell you’re a Christian.
Jesus Christ showed us He cared for the people around, his friends and once strangers, fans and opposites, Jews and Gentiles alike. Governments and faith-based leaders can work together to serve their communities. That’s one goal of the artofneighboring.com movement. But it does more. It encourages you and me to really reach out to our actual neighbors.
The authors deal with barriers we all know: time and fear. Take baby steps and be honest about your motives. And when you meet, greet and engage, you have to take care of giving and receiving (don’t be afraid, ask your neighbor what you’re lacking at the moment) and setting boundaries (you have your family as well, some people will oppose you or don’t want your attention, others will claim a disproportional share of it). A study guide with questions for your personal meditation or small group is added. Pathak & Runyon share their sources as well, from Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, Timothy Ferriss’ The 4-hour Work Week and Kenneth H. Blanchard‘s The One Minute Manager to Stephen Goldsmith‘s Putting Faith in Neighborhoods, Randy Frazee‘s The Connecting Church (Frazee also wrote the foreword), Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘s Life Together and Max Lucado‘s Fearless. The Great Commandment of Jesus is not optional! show less