Moving to a new city brings many ‘new’ moments: new rhythms of life, new streets to navigate, and inevitably new neighbors. New neighbors, like a new city, are full of opportunity to love, serve, and share the gospel with. Sharing the gospel in the neighborhood doesn’t mean standing on your street corner with a “Turn or Burn” sign, or door-to-door evangelism necessarily. Sharing the gospel simply doesn’t fulfill everything Christ has commissioned us to do; he is calling us to be a gospel-presence wherever we are. A people formed by work of Christ (the gospel) and fueled (by the same gospel) to love others, including sharing this gospel. Having a gospel-presence means building relationships.

The last two years Sarah and I have been living in a new city and these are some of things we’ve learned about being good neighbors:

1. Take the initiative.

People like to be cordial to be, well, cordial. It’s easy to throw your neighbor a “Hey, how’s it going?” for the entirety of the Bush administration without ever knowing that neighbor’s name or what they do for a living. To start a real relationship, you need to take the initiative and introduce yourselves. An aside, don’t be an idiot…remember their name. You can even make a little map of which house/apartment they live in, just don’t forget the name. Knowing your neighbor’s name is a great way to build a relationship. Nothing says, “I actually care about you” more than calling your neighbor by name and engaging them in a conversation during the next Sunday night walk to the trash can.

2. Ask questions.

America is a melting pot. Nowhere else can a young married couple live in the same building as a homosexual couple, a middle-aged Hawaiian, some college bros, a 50-something year old breast cancer survivor, and a 70-year old lady from the Bronx (all of whom are my neighbors). Building relationships with your neighbors starts with caring about their story. Who are they? Where are they from? What do they care about? Knowing stories comes from asking questions.

3. Always go in the front door.

All my good intentions of being neighborly became frustrated after a months because I never saw my neighbors. I was starting to wonder if I had vampires for neighbors who couldn’t go out during the daylight. But after months of frustration, I realized that I was the problem. Our backdoor is closer to the street than our front door. so both my wife and I use that door instead. It dawned on me that this is the norm for most home-owning Americans. With a garage attached or behind many homes, a person can leave in the morning for work and come home in the evening without anybody catching a glimpse of them. Whether you own your home, or live in an apartment, sacrifice a couple extra steps and go in the front door. You can’t meet your neighbors if your routine makes you invisible.

4. Serve your neighbors.

Do nice things for you neighbors. Ask yourself, what’s something I can do that would help out John and Jill Neighbor? Be creative. If you don’t know your neighbors yet, so do little things like bringing their trash bin up or leaving them cookies for Christmas. If you do know your neighbors serving them becomes easier. Having built a relationship with one of my neighbors, she asked me to take care of her plants (full disclosure: I may have killed three due to over-watering). These little things go a long way in letting your neighbors know you care about them.

5. Open your blinds.

Look around your neighborhood; too often, the default for most Americans is to leave the blinds closed for months or even years on end. I’ll admit, I love the cave feel (blinds closed, lights off, TV on). It’s relaxing. But, making my house feel like a cave on the inside makes me look like an axe-murderer on the outside. There is something uninviting about keeping your blinds closed all the time. Opening the blinds let’s people in on your life, if even in a superficial way. I think it’s a way of showing people that they are welcome and your life isn’t completely private.

6. Open your door.

While serving as a college minister, I eventually learned, opening up your home to somebody is intimate and beautiful.Hebrews 13:2 says, “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” Inviting your neighbors into your home, whether for dinner or a party, says, “you’re not just my neighbor, you’re my friend.” Our neighbors are longing for companionship. People are lonely. Christ has come to bring us into a forever family and home.

7. Open your life.

This is the most important step in being a good neighbor, we must realize our life is evidence of the gospel and gives hope. As you build relationships with your neighbors, let them know who you really are. Let them know that the truest thing about you is not that you’re a CPA from Ohio, or that you’re married; the truest thing about you is that you are loved by God through your faith in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Open up your life to your neighbors and maybe they too can experience the life-giving power of the Gospel.

Originally published at formedandfueled.com, which is no longer operational. You can still follow Formed & Fueled on Twitter or Facebook, or our publication here on Medium.