Walking on By
March 3, 2008
Dear Friends,
One of the most powerful parables told by Jesus is that of the Good Samaritan. As a tribute to that parable and hopefully to put it in terms that we can more readily appreciate today, I offer a modern version of the parable for your consideration.
A man was on his walk toward the Kingdom when he was attacked by a few wolves in sheep’s clothing. As a result, he lost his faith, separated from his wife, lost his job and began to drink excessively. He lay muddied, bloodied and bruised in the gutter of life.
As he lay there, a well-respected Bible school speaker rode by on his white horse. Noticing the man in the gutter he called down from his mount, “You there. You need to stop sinning.” And he rode on.
A little while later, the secretary of the man’s ecclesia came walking by on his way to an arranging board meeting. He saw the man lying in the gutter and thought to himself “I sure am glad I saw him. That reminds me that I need to send in a notice to the magazines telling them that this brother has regrettably fallen away.” And he walked on.
Shortly thereafter, a TV evangelist was walking by and saw this bloodied wreck of a man and had compassion on him. He offered that he could come to his church for free marriage counseling. He said that he would personally pay for his alcohol rehabilitation. He made a few phone calls and found the man a job.
Jesus ends his version of the parable with the following comment to the Bible scholar who had prompted the parable to begin with:
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.(Luke 10:36-37)
If the love of Christ is really in us, how can we possibly walk on by the many tragic situations around us both inside and outside of the ecclesia? How can we think we are disciples of the Master if we don’t do what he did in addition to saying what he said and thinking what he thought? Jesus did what he saw his Father doing and we need to do what we see in Scripture Jesus doing – feeding the poor, healing the sick, preaching the word, comforting the grieved. It does seem to me, however, that far too many of us are in the habit of walking by.
Getting involved in other people’s lives can be unpleasant; especially in the heat of marital problems, addictions, gross immorality or even apathy. You can’t avoid getting a little mud and blood on you. The easiest thing in the world is to simply walk by. I believe this is why God chose the shepherd as his model for ecclesial leadership. He didn’t choose as his model the king, the professor or the lawyer. He chose as the model a vocation that demands getting involved in sometimes messy ways. Shepherds have to brave the elements with their flock. Shepherds cannot be detached, but have to know the status of their flocks at all times. Shepherds have to protect the flock risking both life and limb to do so. Fighting wolves is nasty business and requires skilled preparation. Shepherds need to tend to the sheep when they are injured which is, again, a hands on operation. It is a position which has no room for “walking by.”
I will share a couple of real-life examples from my own ecclesia. Our elders realized a few years ago that we were performing the role of administrators rather than shepherds. We would talk about getting the gutters cleaned, our annual gathering and just about anything before we would, if we had time, talk about the status of the sheep. We decided at some point that the very first thing we would do at any board meeting was to discuss the status of the sheep first. If we don’t get around to talking about the gutters, fine. It was a little uncomfortable for us at first because it is not as easy as talking about gutters, but the benefits have been self-evident over time.
By way of another example, just this past Sunday we created a new committee called Community Outreach. This is not preaching per-se (although it is part of shining our light before men), but a committee dedicated to serving the community in ways that, quite honestly, we have been deficient in the past such as visiting nursing homes, feeding the poor and helping orphans. A brother in my ecclesia who works full-time in a homeless shelter told me recently that there are 150 churches in the Richmond area that support his shelter and not one of them has the name Christadelphian attached to it. We want to be set apart, but is that the way we wish to distinguish ourselves? Do we want to be known as the ones that read our Bibles but do not care for the homeless, fatherless and widows? Yes, we need to read and study our Bibles, but as Jesus said “these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Luke 11:42) We are going to try and do better, Lord willing.
I have no doubt that the Levite and the Priest in the original (and best) version of the Good Samaritan could have come up with some excellent excuses to walk on by. Perhaps they would be set upon by thieves also. Perhaps this man deserved what happened to him. Perhaps they were on to some important synagogue or Temple function. In the end though, the parable holds up a man steeped in false doctrine, a lowly Samaritan, as the model for correct behavior and instructs us to go and do likewise. No more walking by.
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
Have a great week,
P.S. The surgery for Caroline Titman went well this past week. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. She is well on her way to recovery and a healthy life.
Comments»
Dear Bro. Kyle, As I read your comments this morning I felt very sad when I had finished reading what you wrote. It is sad that our brethren don’t have the vision to see ‘others’ as prospective brothers and sisters in Christ! These people in our community are as it were ‘drowning’ in unbelief. We need to offer them the life preserver of Hope which we all share through our Lord, Jesus Christ, our HIgh Priest, our brother and example.
There are so many people in prisons because of not being taught proper ‘morals’ and who never knew the Bible at all. Sure, there are those who ‘know’ of the Bible, but they really do not ‘know’ God’s plan of salvation. We know that God’s word brings Hope to a Hopeless world.
There are vast areas of the USA where there are limited Christadelphians. Bro. William Casivant was released from prison and wants to meet with a religious group, but there are NONE where he lives in Tennessee. From what I understand the Christadelphians are scattered here and there in that area. Now Bro. William may come under the category of the ‘Good Samaritan’ because not everyone will want to help him, but he is a brother in Christ and is seeking to do God’s will.
Sis. Marilyn:
I think the good news is that the majority (at least of those surveyed) acknowledge that there is a problem. That is the first step. We are like alcoholics that have been on a drunken binge of self-centeredness and intellectualism that have awoken to realize that we have a real problem. I see people starting to change. Your work in the prisons, the SA 2010 project, the Bartimaeus project, Agape’ in Action, Meal-A-Day, etc. (just to name a few) are fairly new projects that are helping people both in and out of the household in practical ways. If each person takes the next step to actually DO instead of talking about doing, we will be well on our way to correcting the problem of having dead faith without works.
Thank you for all that you do and the example you set.
Grace and peace,
Kyle