Showing Christ To Others By Mike Buchanan A Muslim was attacked and left for dead by the side of the road. A Christian walked by, and seeing his Islamic garb, passed by thinking, “This is obviously God’s punishment for his religious beliefs.” Then he continued to walk. Later a conservative walked by, and remembering 9/11, thought, “The world is better off without him.” Then he, too, continued to walk. Lastly, a non-practicing Jew walked by, and being moved with compassion, started administering first aid. When he had come to the limits of his wisdom, he took him to a hospital, had him admitted, and told the doctors, “Whatever he needs, do it for him, and I will pay for the expenses.” Which of these three best displayed Jesus’ commands to “… love your enemies…”? or for that matter, His command to love your neighbor as yourself? (Luke 6:27, Mark 12:31) The story is a modernization of the parable of The Good Samaritan from Luke 10. Yet, almost two thousand years later, the principles are the same. As Christians, we are called to show Christ’s love to a suffering and dying world. To the world whether or not we agree with them, whether or not they love us, whether we think we have a reason to hate them or not, we are told to do good to them (Luke 6:27) So, you may be thinking it’s a great idea in practice, but how does it play out in real life, Mike? Look around you. Who needs help? Who needs Jesus? Let’s look at the questions separately at first and see if they don’t have commonalities.
The answer to the first question is everyone needs help at some point. Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, they all have needed help or will need help at some point in their life. Be available at the moment you interact with them. It doesn’t take a lot, even if you have little money, or whatever, offer what you have. It was a young boy who provided the fish and loaves which Jesus multiplied to feed thousands. He didn’t have much, but he gave what he had. Now notice, he apparently didn’t give it to get his name known. None of the Gospels record this young fellow’s name. Yet we still talk about it all these centuries later. Make donations to organizations that are helping those in need. Cliché though it is, every little bit helps. (Note: It might be worth the time to research to see which do the best with the gifts they’re given. Also, you may want to focus on the ones that have a Gospel-sharing component). Don’t have money? Give clothes (or ask your neighbors for contributions, even) to your church’s homeless ministry. You may be thinking, “My church doesn’t have a homeless ministry.” Excellent point. Start one. You don’t live in a place where there are lots of homeless? No worries, reach out to a local school and see if there are families in need. Maybe you’re great as a teacher and are looking for ways to pass idle hours, offer to tutor struggling students on a volunteer basis. Have a heart for those dealing with health issues or are in or just out of the hospital? Reach out in your neighborhood to see what’s in place. If there isn’t anything? You guessed it. Start something.
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