why love our neighbor?

When our friend, Josh, was here from Food for the Hungry, I asked him how he approached audiences in speaking about Christ's general call for his followers to love our neighbors and engage with those who are considered by society as least, last, or lost. Josh told me that he often teaches the following:


1. Help people to see that we ourselves were strangers, orphans, slaves, helpless and hopeless in our sin. Only by God's mercy, grace, and hospitality have we been rescued and brought into freedom and his family.
2. Help people see that every person is created in the image of God...there are no ordinary people. Everyone has inherent worth and dignity because they are made and loved by God.
3. Everything is owned by God. We own nothing. We're given and entrusted with life, opportunities, gifts, money, etc... only to steward and put them into play in the larger mission of Christ's work to restore everything into right relationship. (justice= "right relationship"...God to people, people to self, people to people, people to creation)

How would you address an audience regarding this call on our lives?