I like the story of the lost sheep and prodigal son. Story of people with logs in their eyes trying to get saw dust out of someone else's. I like the lessons learned in hugging lepers and rubbing mud spit in someone's eye to heal it. Jesus was a great visual and experiential teacher.
BUT
There are a few I have trouble with, such as the parable of the Good Neighbor (Luke 10).
The story goes like this. . . kinda.
An American soldier was walking through the rough part of town, on the wrong side of the tracks, which ever side that is. He got beat up, mugged, and left for dead between two dumpsters.
A public elected official walking by, saw the man laying there and quickly moved on, leaving him because he had an important meeting to attend. He said he would call someone when he got back to the office.
A short time later a Pastor and Elder, on their way from lunch, passed by the man, and quickly hurried on thinking the miscreants might still be around and didn't want to end up in the same shape. They decided the best thing to do is pray for him at tomorrow nights prayer meeting.
Finally, a young Muslim man came by, saw the man between the dumpsters and stopped. He slid the soldier out, took off his t-shirt and quickly made a bandage on his head and other places that needed attention. He then picked the soldier up onto his shoulder and carried him 4 blocks to the Emergency room.
At the hospital, the hurt man didn't have a wallet or ID, so the Muslim man put his credit card on file to cover the medical needs of the hurt soldiers. He then came back the next day to check on his recovery, and each day after that until the man went home.
Then Jesus asks, "Which of those people showed love to the hurt man?"You know the answer, right? The third one.one that stopped to help. The one who got his hands dirty, interrupted his day.
So I have to ask myself. Do I walk by hurting people? I know first aid, CPR, emergency preparedness. But, I don't encounter many mugged people.
Or could those be spiritually hurting people?
Could they be spiritually beat up and left for dead?
Could they be eternally dead and I just walk by choosing to only pray for them or get on to something else?
I think the same thing about another teaching of Jesus. (Matthew 25:31-46)
He told them:
- I was hungry and you didn't feed me.
- I was thirsty and you didn't give me water.
- I was a stranger and you didn't welcome me.
- I was naked and you didn't cloth me.
- I was in prison and you didn't visit me.
Is this a list of physical activities the church is suppose to do? In other words, if you do these things, then Jesus will invite you into his kingdom and there will be celebration. Or if we don't do them we will we be thrown into darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don't think it is that, because we are saved by grace through the resurrection of Jesus, not works.
Could this be a list of spiritual concern?
- I was spiritual malnourished and you didn't give the Words of Life.
- I was thirsty for righteousness and you didn't give the Living Water.
- I was a stranger to them and you didn't introduce us.
- I was naked and in shame, you didn't tell about the robes of righteousness.
- I was imprisoned by sin and waiting death, and you didn't release me with the free gift of salvation.
A regular neighbor would do the first list pretty easily; water, food, cloths, etc.
A spiritual neighbor would do the second. To see the spiritual beating people take, the darkness they live in. To understand the shame and fear, the nakedness of the soul.
These beaten and spiritually mugged neighbors all around us need a Good Neighbor to show the love of Jesus. The Life of Jesus. The Grace of Jesus. The take-the-time-and-don't-give-up-on-me-of Jesus.
This is my on-going struggle with the church being in the world but not of the world. How do we live these teachings out if we isolate ourselves from the hurting world? We have to have time away from it, of course. We have to have time and opportunity to dig into the world, get spiritually trained and built up. To get our skills sharpened apart from the distractions of everyday life. (read into that be together as the church, for edification, education, correcting, rebuking, worshiping Jesus.)
This is my struggle with Boy Scouts. Do I stay because kids and leaders are spiritually beat up and left for dead? Do we stay and try to feed little bites of the Words of Life? Give a taste of the Living water in their canteen? Help them see there is a uniform of righteousness and armor of faith? That wilderness surviving isn't near as important as spiritual thriving?
By leaving BSA, am I just walking by and onto something else easier? Am I just praying for them, but still leaving them to their own devices?
How do I be a Good Neighbor?
