A 2001 Gallup survey reported that 25% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans believed that crime had gone up in their neighborhood over the last year. 20 years later, in 2022, those numbers have shot up to 42% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans reporting they are more fearful of crime.

Go ahead and cancel me for maintaining these friendships with my neighbors. These are people God has called me to love without exceptions or excuses.

Sorry. I'm not canceling my neighbor.

The Old Testament book of Jonah is one of the clearest expressions of God’s love for humanity. While most of the Old Testament is focused on God’s special care for the nation of Israel, Jonah reminds us that God’s love for our neighbors is not a new idea that simply started with Jesus or the New Testament.

People who possess eternal life are not afraid to risk what they can’t lose. The question we should ask is not the teacher’s “who is my neighbor?” but the more expansive “to whom should I become a neighbor?”