The Good Samaritan
April 9th 2008 04:38
The reason I chose the name Samaritan for my pen name on Orble is because my two favourite gospel stories just happen to include Samaritans. One was a Samaritan woman. One was a male. One story really happened. One was a parable. But they both included revolutionary ideas. They were revolutionary at the time and they’re still revolutionary now.
In this post, I will address the first story, the story of the Good Samaritan. In my next post I will look at the other Samaritan story, the Samaritan woman by the well.
Most people are pretty familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. A man lies hurt by the side of the road. Two people pass him by; one a priest and one a Levite. Then a Samaritan passes by, stops to help him and pays for all that needs.
We’re so used to the story now that it’s hard to recapture the revolutionary aspects of it, as it was told in Jesus’ day. Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Jews and Samaritans had nothing to do with each other. It is hard to fit any group that fits into the same context in today’s Christian setting. But a Muslim is probably closest to the mark. So let’s say we’re talking to a group of Christians. A man is hurt by the side of the road. A Christian televangelist walks right past him. A Catholic priest walks right past him. A Muslim stops to help.
The most frequent point made, when discussing this story, is that we should help everyone, regardless of religion or nationality. A point, I might add, that is quite frequently forgotten by people, particularly when discussing issues of international politics. Although I disliked having to use Muslims in the above scenario because I do not believe they should be seen in this light, I do know of Christians who believe they should all be kept out of our country. It does seem sometimes that we want to help everyone – provided, of course, they don’t offend our own religious beliefs.
But I believe there is another point to this story. At the end of the parable, Jesus asks who, of the three of them, was his neighbour. They answer the one who showed mercy. Back to the scenario above, I doubt he would have got the same answer. Instead he would have received a whole heap of answers about how the Christians were going to help and how the Muslim’s help didn’t really count because he wasn’t Christian.
I have heard people say that they will not give to a specific charity because it’s not Christian. It seems that some people believe that only Christian organisations (preferably of the same denomination) have the capacity to do any good. We highlight all the good that Christian charities do and downplay anything done by the “wrong religion”.
I have also heard a sermon in which the pastor asked the congregation to imagine a world without Christians in it. He said that it would be a terrible world, devoid of love and compassion, where people only looked to their own selfish needs. According to this sermon, Christians are the only people who ever do anything good for anybody else.
That simply isn’t true. The story of the Good Samaritan completely speaks against this view. It was the Samaritan who helped. He may have been of the wrong religion. He may have been the wrong type of person. But he succeeded in following God’s commandment to love your neighbour, where those who were of the right religion failed to do so.
I’ve read this story perhaps a thousand times, in various translations, and I’m yet to find anything at the end where Jesus says “Of course, it didn’t really count because he was the wrong religion.” What he did was a good thing. It didn’t matter what religion he was.
When we see people doing right – particularly if they’re of a different religion – we shouldn’t downplay their efforts. We should commend them and help them were we can. It’s a revolutionary concept to some people – this idea that people who aren’t Christian can actually be helping others. But revolutionary or not, it’s true. Just ask Jesus.
In this post, I will address the first story, the story of the Good Samaritan. In my next post I will look at the other Samaritan story, the Samaritan woman by the well.
Most people are pretty familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan. A man lies hurt by the side of the road. Two people pass him by; one a priest and one a Levite. Then a Samaritan passes by, stops to help him and pays for all that needs.
We’re so used to the story now that it’s hard to recapture the revolutionary aspects of it, as it was told in Jesus’ day. Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Jews and Samaritans had nothing to do with each other. It is hard to fit any group that fits into the same context in today’s Christian setting. But a Muslim is probably closest to the mark. So let’s say we’re talking to a group of Christians. A man is hurt by the side of the road. A Christian televangelist walks right past him. A Catholic priest walks right past him. A Muslim stops to help.
The most frequent point made, when discussing this story, is that we should help everyone, regardless of religion or nationality. A point, I might add, that is quite frequently forgotten by people, particularly when discussing issues of international politics. Although I disliked having to use Muslims in the above scenario because I do not believe they should be seen in this light, I do know of Christians who believe they should all be kept out of our country. It does seem sometimes that we want to help everyone – provided, of course, they don’t offend our own religious beliefs.
But I believe there is another point to this story. At the end of the parable, Jesus asks who, of the three of them, was his neighbour. They answer the one who showed mercy. Back to the scenario above, I doubt he would have got the same answer. Instead he would have received a whole heap of answers about how the Christians were going to help and how the Muslim’s help didn’t really count because he wasn’t Christian.
I have heard people say that they will not give to a specific charity because it’s not Christian. It seems that some people believe that only Christian organisations (preferably of the same denomination) have the capacity to do any good. We highlight all the good that Christian charities do and downplay anything done by the “wrong religion”.
I have also heard a sermon in which the pastor asked the congregation to imagine a world without Christians in it. He said that it would be a terrible world, devoid of love and compassion, where people only looked to their own selfish needs. According to this sermon, Christians are the only people who ever do anything good for anybody else.
That simply isn’t true. The story of the Good Samaritan completely speaks against this view. It was the Samaritan who helped. He may have been of the wrong religion. He may have been the wrong type of person. But he succeeded in following God’s commandment to love your neighbour, where those who were of the right religion failed to do so.
I’ve read this story perhaps a thousand times, in various translations, and I’m yet to find anything at the end where Jesus says “Of course, it didn’t really count because he was the wrong religion.” What he did was a good thing. It didn’t matter what religion he was.
When we see people doing right – particularly if they’re of a different religion – we shouldn’t downplay their efforts. We should commend them and help them were we can. It’s a revolutionary concept to some people – this idea that people who aren’t Christian can actually be helping others. But revolutionary or not, it’s true. Just ask Jesus.
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Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Really nicely told story. Reminds of a news story I read about a family in Palestine whose 12 year old son was killed by an Israeli rocket attack. The family donated his organs to an Israeli hospital where they saved the lives of six other people.
Did it matter that he was Muslim? Did it matter that they were Jewish?
Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith
What a great story. The family must have been very special people to do that.
Samaritan
Comment by S. L. Bradish
Comment by samaritan
Fringe Faith