Responding to The Word.

Yet again, it has been a while since I have written. So I am going to stop procrastinating and I am going to hit the ground running with this first entry in a month. This one is for you Luke...

I was sitting in church on sunday and I heard a sermon that took a very well known passage/parable and turned it in such a way that I had never heard before. The passage was the parable of The Good Samaritan. If you have never read it or haven't read it in a while go ahead and flip to it right now and give it a look...I'll wait...Luke 10:25-37 if you need the rference

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Done? Good...So J.D. (Dr.Greear if you only know him by his pastoral name.) was discussing Injustice, and how many non-christians believe the church is responsible for tons of injustice over the centuries. (go here to listen to the whole sermon, it's worth it. I am only giving you a small slice.) He spoke about the parable of the Good Samaritan and how it relates to breaking down the injustice and hatred in our lives. 

Yes. It is true that the church has committed atrocities in the past...but would it be a stretch to say that these injustices were not caused by "Christians" or even just "Christ Centered Christians"(CCC for short), but by people who had lost the focus of the Gospel? I do not think so. This is what the parable of the Good Samaritan is addressing.

A lot of preachers and teachers have looked at this parable as "what we need to be/what we should be". They say that we need to be the good Samaritan being willing to help anyone we see in need. This is true, and I am in no way saying it is not a model that we should follow. But I think there is a better interpretation that was pointed out by J.D.

I think that we are better to look at ourselves as the man beaten on the side of the road. Why do I say that? Because it accurately describes our situation before the Lord. We are beaten and wounded by sin, left for death and destruction, with no hope of being healed under our own power. Then along comes Christ, our savior, who picks us up and brings us to safety and salvation in him. See how that fits? We were dead in our sin, and Christ lifted us out of it. Wow that sounds strangely like the Gospel to me...

Two "christians" (if I can be bold, but I do use a lower case "c") walked by this man and did nothing. English philosopher Edmund Burke once said "The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing." When we stop seeing ourselves as the Good Samaritan, and starting seeing ourselves as the dying man, I think we can begin to understand the true amount of grace in our lives. 

In summary, when we focus on grace, pride is smashed. When pride is smashed, atrocity and injustice go with.

Hope it made you think.

-B out