The Back Porch

There are people from all walks of life that have deep needs, need help, need a friend, etc.   The point about the Good Samaritan wasn’t the religious leaders that passed him by, but rather the guy in the gutter who was beat up, left for dead.  It is the guy in ditch dying.   Often I get caught up asking, “Which of those religious leaders are me?”   While this is important we should be asking this question, “Do I take on issues, debate things that hinder me from seeing the guy in the gutter?”   This is what happened to the leaders, their debate, interpretations of the law caused them to miss the point; their hearts became hard.  Am I really that different from them?  I miss the point too. 

  
Recently I had a powerful experience in San Diego.  Jenah and I were walking the streets completely lost and came upon a man sleeping on the sidewalk.  There was urine flowing from underneath him.  We just kept walking.  I was focused on staying safe rather then helping.  We should have helped, should have served him instead we watched the firemen kick him awake later.  Perhaps the question we need to ask is not what is our motivation, but maybe why don’t we don’t we respond when the need is in our face.  Our experience in San Diego affected me profoundly.  

    
The life of Christ reminds me and gives me purpose for serving.  His work on the cross is profound, a mystery and simply amazing.  This alone should be cause for us to serve shouldn’t it?  Do we realize what exactly God did for us on the cross through Jesus?  This defining act of service, love and humility all laid out for the world?  We have been studying this in Corinthians over the past several months, the message of the cross is the power of God for those who believe (1Cor 1:18.)  But it’s not, well at least in the way we live our lives.  We have added elements to the cross that just aren’t there.  As Christians we tend to debate, rally for causes, support rather than serve.

 
Generally I feel like most people want to help; this isn’t limited to just believers.  People are motivated differently and will respond based on those motivations.  Service is ingrained.  Some will do it well and some won’t.  The Good Samaritan wasn’t part of the rabbinical system, yet he did it, all we get is that he is some Joe that walks by and helps.  This parable relates very well to the church right now.   The church could be the priests walking by.  The church (generalizing here but I think you agree with me) just doesn’t rise up to help those in need.  For our purposes, we see this happening daily, there are organizations that help with the needy, and there are Good Samaritans all over the place picking up the slack where the church across the street isn’t doing much.   I believe our motivations are out of line.  I heard an illustration recently; there was a church with Hooters moving in across the street.  The pastor was pretty livid, and the congregation soon followed.  They were protesting, signing petitions, etc.  They even went as far as making a website of people walking into Hooters.   There was much hatred going on.  The pastor asked a friend what they should do about this.  He rented a billboard.  The friend approached Hooters and said, “I am putting up a billboard and we are going to see who can raise more money to build a well in Africa, Hooters or 1st Baptist.”  Then he went to the church and said this to them, “I challenged Hooters to build wells in Africa, it’s going to be you vs. Hooters.”  He put up the score daily.  Guess who won. Hooters.  The church was quiet after that.  They saw people that went to Hooters in a different light.   It’s easy to get caught in spewing venom, ranting on issues that rob us of love for others.  We fall on the hate train often.  This type of thinking takes us away from people in the gutter. If we aren’t careful, we could be shutting door on people without ever serving them.  I have to ask the question daily, “Who am I about to walk over?”

Peace