A church in the Midwest was doing their annual Fall book study in their small groups and the pastor’s sermons went along with the study. They used the book, The Art of Neighboring, which is based on the premise that the Great Commandment — love God and love your neighbor — is not optional. All of us have the command to love one another, and that certainly includes our neighbors.

During one sermon based on ideas from this book, the pastor said, “Look across the street. Do you even know that person’s name? When was the last time you spoke to him or her?” That question struck a nerve in “Bill,” who’s a college–educated man with a good job. Apart from his job, he is currently working on a PhD in ministry because it’s a passion he has. After the sermon, Bill came to the pastor and spoke about “Susan,” his neighbor across the street. Several years ago, they started bickering with each other over some minor property issue. The police were called more than once (although no violence occurred, and no arrests were made). The result was that they each stayed on their own side of the street and ignored each other.

And then the sermon about going across the street and showing Christian love came into play. After a good talk that lasted quite a while, Bill decided he needed to take steps. He became convinced that his anger toward her was hurting his relationship with her and his relationship with God. Two weeks later, Bill came back to church a different man. “It was amazing!” Bill said. “I don’t know that we will ever be best friends, but we both realized that we are bigger and more important than this issue.” They are talking and being good neighbors.