Building and Neighbors

The Remnant of Israel (remaining Israelites after being beaten and captured by the Babylonians) have returned to Jerusalem.  They have been equipped by God, through King Cyrus, to rebuild the Temple of the LORD.  Their enemies tried to infiltrate their ranks.  It did not work.

Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. (Ezra 4:4 NLT)

Sometimes the people trying to stop the building of God’s Temple today (The Church) are not outright enemies.  In fact, when you meet them, you really can’t tell whether they are with God or against.  They fall into a question mark (?) kind of category.  All you really know is that they are in the area.  These people would be considered neighbors.

They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne. (Ezra 4:5 NLT)

What, then, do we do when our neighbors are working against us as we are building people up into God’s Church?  Jesus, the Head of God’s Church, had some thoughts on this.

He said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands." (Matthew 22:37-40 HCSB)

What do we do with neighbors who are working against us as we build people up into the Church?  Simple.  Love them.  Keep building.  Even when they work against God and us, we still follow these simple principles.

Now in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem. (Ezra 4:6 NASB)

When a teacher of the law wanted to justify his theology, he asked Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?”  Jesus responded with a story that we often call “The Good Samaritan.” 

Jesus replied with a story: "A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. "By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. "Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.' "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. The man replied, "The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same." (Luke 10:30-37 NLT)

How about you?  When a person that you don’t know very well is working against you building up God’s Church, what do you do?  Do you love them?  Do you keep building?