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BEING A GOOD SAMARITAN

By Leila Evangelista Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: emrhayata | Flickr (Creative Commons)

Photo Credit: emrhayata
| Flickr (Creative Commons)

If someone were to sit down and contemplate the state of the world right now, it would be easy to find sadness, unfairness, and inexplicably awful things that can’t fully be comprehended. We have mass poverty, pandemic diseases, social injustice, gender inequality and political oppression, just to name a few ills. Then on top of that, we have the random acts of nature, like the 2009 earthquakes and floods of Southeast Asia and the Pacific that have killed and displaced many, and wars where leaders view “the means to an end” as violence and death until one side loses or submits due to the casualties sustained. Then there is the overwhelming disparity between the rich and the poor; the difference between those who “have” and those who “have not” is greater than ever and continues to grow. I contemplate these things often, and many times I have to tell myself not to feel guilty about living the life I have been blessed with. Even now as I’m writing this, I’m swallowing down a sandwich and I somehow feel guilty that I have this and someone else doesn’t. It’s not a productive way to live.

But what is a better way to see the world? Borrowing the words of World Vision U.S. President Rich Stearns, “The pessimist sees only obstacles; the optimist sees only opportunities. But it’s the realist who sees the possibilities between the two.” That’s who we, as Christ’s followers, have to be: People of Possibility. Remembering the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus calls us to “Love our neighbor as we love ourselves,” and to go and be like the Samaritan man who helps a stranger in need. When we see something inhumane, our own humanity has to be questioned. Not only because we should see ourselves and Jesus in one another, but also because we have to evaluate how we act towards one another. To see something and not do anything, is that not also inhumane?

We are quick to think of what we can’t do. And realistically speaking, the list is long. But in the same realistic spirit, we have to ask ourselves what can we do within our own power, or even as a collective power? As Christians, 2 billion in the entire world and 77 million in America alone, what can our collective people of faith do? This is the focus of the campaign Start-> Becoming a Good Samaritan. It is harnessing the cumulative power of individual efforts in an unprecedented call to action by those at the forefront of the world’s problems.

Michael Seaton, the author and creative director of the campaign, teamed with Zondervan, The C2 Group, World Vision, and more than 50 leading voices in social change, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Sandra Thurman, Eugene Peterson and Amy Sherman, to create Start-> Becoming a Good Samaritan. It is a global campaign, but in its simplest form it is a teaching tool. In order to address the pressing global issues in our world today, the campaign has created a booklet and a corresponding DVD series that pulls together wisdom and inspiration from leaders of various causes. The booklet and DVD series are meant to be explored over a period of time. Designed for churches, small groups, and outreach organizations, the goal is to reflect over the issues, absorb the new knowledge and wisdom in thoughtful discussions, and to slowly but consciously integrate being a change agent into daily living—making faith in action a lifestyle. Through this teaching tool, the series aims to inspire and inform individuals and communities to transform their world.

Ultimately, the real value of the series lies in bringing Christian communities together to address global issues; move those impossible mountains, and become a global testament of faith.

“‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, ‘if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’ I used to read that verse and think that it was an exaggeration, that Jesus was just trying to make a point about the power of faith. But recently I came to view it in a different light. What if Jesus meant for millions of his followers each to put his or her faith into action by grabbing a shovel and challenging the mountain one shovelful at a time? Then any mountain would be moved, even the peaks of Poverty, Hunger, and Injustice—if we had enough people out there ‘shoveling.’”

Rich Stearns, President of World Vision US
Start ->Becoming a Good Samaritan, Foreward

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Filed Under: Grow, Practical Application Tagged With: Issue 5

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Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on ou Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on our own is in vain. We can never hope to achieve the same level that Jesus was on while we are still here on Earth. We’re like little kids, struggling just to walk. But that’s why Jesus gave us an example of redeemed followers in the form of the Apostles, who were his close group of students here on Earth. He chose a group of broken, sinful men, and ultimately shaped them into the group responsible for continuing his ministry here on Earth. ⁠
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✍🏽: Tim VanDeWalker in "Running By Example" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's th "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." –Desmond Tutu
The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not t The Bible tells us to live in the world, but not to become like it. The New Living Translation puts it this way, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Rom. 12:2a). Some have interpreted this as an instruction to reject anything that isn’t explicitly Christian. But I don’t think that’s what this verse is getting at. I think it means much more.⁠
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✍🏽: Lindsey Beharry in "Choosing Wisely" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
If you desire to serve, seek to form groups withou If you desire to serve, seek to form groups without age distinction. Maybe you want to form a group in your church. Avoid just inviting members from your age group. Seek out people older and younger than you to invite to meet together. Find that person who sits alone and talk to her or him. Instead of a focus on building groups that have the same characteristics to “relate” with one another, you center your discussion in the work of Christ. He will bring the group together. ⁠
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✍🏽: Russell Almand in "Community and Age Diversity" | Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others an Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others and not to judge. I forget that when he said, “Come follow me,” he wasn’t just inviting us to a strict set of rules but to a real and exciting life whether you turn out to be a pastor, a doctor, designer or simply “Dad.” Sometimes I forget one of his main messages was that he came to give us a better life than we could ever dream of—life to the fullest. Jesus wasn’t locking us down to a vocation or job title. It’s as if he was saying, “Real, vibrant life is available to you now. Following me, loving me and living like me is your real calling…the rest is just there to aid you in following, loving and living.”⁠
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Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” There is yet another parallel between the Christian story and The Matrix, simultaneously the most foundational and the most captivating. It’s that something which is missing, something which is not quite right with the world. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. At the outset of the first film, Neo is searching for it. Trinity asserts that “it’s the question that drives us.” Morpheus claims that “you can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.” The question is: What if I’ve only ever scratched the surface of all that life has to offer? What if there is a deeper, truer current of reality, ever-present behind all of my life’s experiences, to which I might awaken at any moment?⁠
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