My Neighbor John

July 24, 2024 / by David Congdon

Over the years that I’ve been writing articles and short stories, I’ve had a rule: Never begin a story until you have the end figured out. But now…I’m breaking my own rule. I’m going to tell you a true story of my neighbor.

I know how it began, and I know the middle, but I can’t tell you the end – not yet.

Over three years ago, my neighbor had a bad accident. It left him disabled and unable to work. He can still get around. He can still play cards and things like that, but a lot of tasks are just beyond him. About three summers back, I began to mow his lawn. At first, the people who knew about it supported my efforts, but as my commitment to mow my neighbor’s lawn turned into months and years, people began to say, “He is not your problem. You should stop.” I just kept mowing.

Meanwhile, God was acting in my neighbor’s life. Christians began to move into houses all around him. He had two Christian families behind him, Christians to the East of him and Christians across the street. He was surrounded. All these folks extended kindness to him in different ways. Some invited him for meals and to play cards. Some worked on his yard. Some shoveled snow. Some prayed for him. Some talked about their faith.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my neighbor shared with me that he has only months to live. He’s decided not to wait in his house to die but to pack a few things and travel during the time he has left to see the places he hasn’t seen.

Up until now, my neighbor has not been a believer. He has been skeptical of the Christian faith, but just recently, he was playing cards with his neighbors to the East and told them that the relentless kindness of his Christian neighbors has caused him to reconsider his skepticism.

As I write this, his neighbors are preparing to help him sell his house.

I won’t see him around much longer. I won’t know him in his final days and moments. Will he become a believer? Will he be cared for by others as he travels?

Here’s what I do know: Matthew chapter 25 calls us to kindness. I reject the notion proposed by some that Matthew 25 only calls us to be kind to other Christians. That’s an impossible proposition to carry out if you give it just a little thought. I also reject the notion that has been voiced to me that a person can be “too nice for their own good.” That idea completely disregards the eternal perspective.

In closing, I urge you to kindness. Kindness is not easy. It’s costly, hard and stressful. It may get you hurt, It breaks the “normal” rules. But as it turns out, it’s extremely important to God. When we stand before Him, He’s going to ask us about it. How did you treat other people? Did you say, “He’s is not my problem?”

David serves on the Safe/Secure Team at East White Oak. He spent 17 years living and working in Africa, the Middle East, Central and South America. He runs a small security consulting firm, operates a guest house, and helps out at the Johnson/Jacobs farm partnership. His wife, KC, is a conductor. (On stage, not on a train.) David and KC do not have any children of their own, but have had the great privilege of acquiring three daughters, Catie, Trisha, and Kendall. They suspect these children were dropped off by Amazon.