March 30, 2020
How do we fulfill the second great commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves during a time when we cannot be physically present with them? It’s a question you’ve likely asked yourself, or a friend, and it’s something that we will have to be thinking about for at least the next month or longer, it appears. Here are a few simple, practical suggestions. This is certainly not a comprehensive list, and I encourage you to share your ideas in the comments section under this post.
Make a phone call. Texting is fine and helpful, we’ve become more and more used to communicating to one another in this manner, but in a time when we’re homebound, it’s great to hear someone else’s voice, particularly someone you know and love, and particularly if you live alone and don’t have anyone else to talk all day. God gave us voices, and when we don’t get to use them regularly, technologies that connect us more physically than less physically are a rich blessing. So call your friends, yes. But also call someone you don’t know as well, just to check on how they’re doing. Call someone that you suspect is likely lonely. Call the neighbor down the street that you haven’t seen since the block party last year. And if in God’s providence they are still alive, absolutely, definitely, without a doubt call your mother and father.
Make video calls. Whether you use Facetime or Skype or Zoom or whatever your favorite video conferencing platform might be, take advantage of newer technologies that allow us to see one another. Sure, no one loves to see or hear themselves on camera, but at this point, it’s probably just great to see someone other than your family members. I participated in my first Zoom video call this past weekend, and it was so good to catch up with the three other couples on the screen, to share stories from the past two weeks, to laugh together, to pray together. Sure, it was glitchy, and we spoke on top of each other several times. But we finally figured it out.
Write letters. Again, texts and emails are fine too, but there’s something about receiving an old-fashioned, hand-written, smudged, signed letter in the mail. A letter can communicate emotion and feeling even better than a text or email. It can be placed on a coffee table or in a book and read again and again. It can be preserved for decades and centuries (“Grandpa, can you show me your letters from the COVID crisis again?”). It doesn’t have to be long - a short note will suffice.
Share what’s in your pantry. You may have gotten to the grocery story to stock up on some needed items before the stores ran out. And while it seems that the supply is returning on important products, you may hear of someone who doesn’t have something you have multiple packs/units/items of. Be generous, trusting the Lord to provide for you and your family and you give away what He has already provided for you. Maybe it’s toilet paper. Maybe it’s hamburger meat. Maybe it’s bread. If we panic-shopped, then what isn’t in the stores is in someone’s pantry. So don’t be ashamed to ask around if you’re out of something. Give folks an opportunity to love you. I’m almost certain you’ll have an opportunity to love in return before this is all said and done. (In this category would also fall going shopping or going to the pharmacy for someone who shouldn’t get out due to a higher risk of catching the virus.)
Share the gospel. People are going to be asking spiritual questions during this season. They will be more open to talking about God, about death, about eternity, about sin and suffering. Remember the words of Peter: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (I Peter 3:15). Jesus’ words could not be more appropriate than they will be in these coming weeks: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Now is the time to grow in evangelistic zeal and courage, to practice sharing the gospel. Have a basic outline in your head: God, Sin, Christ, Faith. Talk about the sovereignty of God as the basis of our hope in times like these. Talk about the holy justice of God, and how we deserve far worse than we actually receive because of our sin. Talk about the fall of Adam as the source of all misery and suffering. Talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus as the only hope for sinners, and the return of Jesus as the day when all sorrow will be wiped away. Talk about what it means to trust Jesus, to turn from sin, to strive for holiness by grace, to walk by faith and not by sight. Pray for revival, and pray for opportunities to talk about Jesus with your neighbors.
As I said - there are certainly more practical ways we can love our neighbors; please share them with us! You’ve probably already thought of the ones I’ve mentioned. But if not - try them out.