The Good Samaritan

Apparently today is the day that I get riled up at our society and the church at how we are exactly like the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was accusing in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

As we are all familiar with the parable, but just for a paraphrased recap. A guy got attacked, robbed and left to die by thugs. Three "Christians" walked past, but none stopped to help. Then, a person, despised by the "Christians" stopped to help. He was a Samaritan. He helped the man. Took him to a hospital and paid for everything.

Sound familiar? We "Christians" get so upset at the "liberals" and their help for the poor and downtrodden. And we have a valid reason. We get upset because they are doing our job. Oh, wait. That's not it at all. We get upset because they are using our money to do it. Wait, so we are called to help the poor and downtrodden with everything that we have, yet we get upset that they are using "my money" to help the poor and downtrodden?

So I realize that I am oversimplifying the situation, but aren't we supposed to "lean into Jesus" with everything that we have. Doesn't that mean push the envelope of what is possible, trusting Him to catch us when we fall.

In the defense of Christians, we have every right, and ought to critical of the way in which society abandons the poor as being too much to care for. Of encouraging the disabled and depressed to commit suicide, because they don't "have a life worth living." We should protest our government enabling suicide in Oregon and now Washington, and hopefully not Hawaii.

However, we are supposed to be salt and light. We ought to be leading the way. And when we take a long hard look into the mirror, we can see that we are. We abandon the orphans and the widows, when we should taking them into our homes and our lives. We encourage the pre-born and the depressed, vulnerable pregnant mothers to abort by abandoning them to a soceity that tells them they cannot have a life worth living with a child; that their child will be un-loved and un-wanted, rejected by the rest of the world. These mothers are desperate. They look at the world around them and everything they see tells them that the story they are hearing from the abortion worker is correct.

Again, to be fair, there are points of light, we have billboards out there. We have charities and crises pregnancy centers willing and able to help the women that walk through their doors.

But we have so few. We have so few. Because of two reasons, money and help. That's all we need. More money for things like ultrasound machines and adoption help. More help to drive young mothers to parents classes rather than abortion clinics. You know the amazing thing. Those are the only things that the good Samaritan had as well. He gave of his time and of his money.

Crises Pregnancy Centers and Adoption Agencies should be like McDonald's and Burger King. Wherever you see a Planed Parenthood, you know that within a block or two, you will find a CPC/Adoption agency. It's insane that I have to drive 90 minutes to find an agency that is willing to talk to me about adoption and not about how much money I will pay them for the adoption. And the funny thing is, I'm paying more for it. Because I'm not concerned about the money. God has the windows of heaven ready to pour out on me.

Why do we live in big houses and go into debt for new TV's and new cars when we could, even should, be giving to life instead? Not that cars or TV's are bad or sinful, but we use them like a drug. We have to get the latest. We have to have the newest. Wait three years. Don't get the newest, you will save a lot of money and you can store up treasures in heaven with the difference. It's the new "Buy term; invest the difference" cliche. We have a temporary life here. We should invest the difference between what we don't spend on making our temporary life crazy comfortable in the Bank of Heaven.

To end this rather long post, I will paraphrase what our Pastor said a few weeks ago. "Do something. Do anything. I don't care what you do or how little is. It's better than what you are doing now, which is nothing."