Perhaps it boils down to this: What would Christ have me do here and now? This poor dude has fallen in my path, and I am supposed to be a good neighbor and love extravagantly. I'm supposed to meet his needs somehow because I am, as they say, the man on the ground at this moment. This strikes me as a tad absurd because, frankly, I would say this kid does NOT need ME to try to teach him to be SOCIAL.
I am an introverted, lonerish, antisocial person by inclination. I LIKE being this way. I suppose I could teach him how to repel people less obnoxiously, but obviously, he doesn't need my help overall with that. He needs friends his own age to help him understand what is appropriate and what is not. But let's be serious: how many 18-year-olds at anime clubs do you know who have the sensitivity to notice this situation and the ability to do something to improve it?
I'm not saying they're non-existent, but when I was in college as an upperclassman leading orientation groups, I had to reach out to some of my freshman to give them people to hang out with because their own peers couldn't do so. I tried approaching the leadership of the club to ask them to take on this responsibility (I figure it's theirs), and that . . . didn't really work. Maybe they need someone to teach them how. : ) But I was a completely different person back then in a different place, and I had that to offer. Now I don't.
So we circle back to the question again: what would Jesus have me do besides pray for someone else to intervene? Lacking any clear messages in 30-foot letters of fire, I turn to the gallery. Your thoughts on what it means to love my neighbor in this case?
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