Justifying Ourselves Changes Nothing: A Political Take on the Good Samaritan
There’s an interesting passage of Scripture (Luke 10:25-37) where a man asks Jesus,
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?“
Jesus flips this back around and asks the man, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?“
The man answers, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus affirms this answer. But the man doesn’t want to leave it there, and his next words haunt me:
“But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?'” [Bold/Italics mine]
He wanted to justify himself. He wanted to check off his morality box, and call his love sufficient. So he sought to qualify his love to prove that he was good “enough”.
I look around at the terrible division and hatred in the United States right now, reignited by the jarring violence at the Capitol last Wednesday. This division, sadly, has been ongoing and growing, and we are finally seeing the full fruits of what hatred, lies, and our own individual brokenness have created.
One thing that saddens me is that 2000+ years later, we haven’t gotten much farther than this man Jesus was speaking to. We ask God what it means to follow Him- what it means to love- but then, we seem very preoccupied with justifying ourselves. (Perhaps more justified in checking off a box than in hearing what Jesus actually has to say.)
I’m guilty of this too.
We look at someone on the other side- the other political side, the other side of our social justice issue, the other side of our beliefs- and we want to find the fault so that we can justify ourselves.
Certainly this isn’t the only reason we argue. Yes, there are life and death issues- yes, we must speak out for what is important, and just. No, we can’t avoid disagreements with people.
But so often I see that it is easier to point out everything the other side is doing wrong, than to focus on what we must do that is right. It is far easier to “justify ourselves” simply by comparison: the more of your sins I can call out, the less mine seem to matter. If I can point to YOUR hypocrisy, then I don’t have to look very closely at my own. “Look what your side just did!! Just goes to show that nothing good can come from your side.”
And we say to Jesus all over again, “Who is my neighbor?” Who do I really have to love, and how much do I really have to love them?
And Jesus responds with the parable of the good Samaritan- the story of a man who is injured and rescued by an enemy of the Jewish people. I will let you read the original for yourself, but I’m offering two variations for us today.
“A man was on his way home on his bike and was struck by an oblivious driver, who drove away without stopping to see what he hit. The biker was alive, but hurt, and wasn’t near a main road. He called for help, then waited. The first person who passed by was a well-known pro-life supporter. She was on her way to a rally outside the abortion clinic, in fact. She thought she might have heard something as she walked down the sidewalk- but maybe it was in her head- and she was in too much of a hurry to stop anyway. The second person who passed was a staunch patriot who supported many American charities and businesses, and advocated for Veterans. He kept his head down, walking past the injured person quickly. He felt a little bad, but saw other people on the road and assumed someone would help. The third person who passed by was a Christian liberal, who supported Biden and the BLM movement. This person saw the injured biker, and immediately ran over to help. She bandaged the person’s wounds with her first aid kit, and called an ambulance for more help. She even called the hospital later to ask about the biker, and sent a flower bouquet to his room.”
OR perhaps it happened this way…
“What if the biker was injured in the same way, but the people who passed were different. The first person who passed was a major social justice warrior and foster parent, known for advocating for refugees and gender equality. But this person didn’t stop- they heard a noise, but they were too distracted by the latest post from an activist they follow. The second person that strolled by was at the forefront of the racial justice movement. But this person was lost in thought, preparing notes for an upcoming criminal justice reform presentation. They completely missed the injured person, and strolled on by. The third person who passed was a conservative Christian Trump supporter. He not only saw the injured biker, but got down to help, asking what had happened and offering to take the biker to the hospital. He made sure the biker’s family was called and even dropped off a get well soon basket of goodies to the biker later that day.”
Yes, there are stereotypes here- please don’t let that distract from the point. We are all complex people and few of us fall into such exact categories. I get it. The idea is to imagine that the people that you agree with do not stop to help the injured person- and the person who does finally stop to help is someone that you disagree with most.
Does this rub you the wrong way? Because it gave me some strong emotions. We don’t want to see our enemy as our neighbor. We don’t want to have to love the one that we disagree with strongly. We want to keep pointing out flaws, justifying ourselves, and assuming that the problem is always on the other side.
God knows the problem is on the other side. And God knows it is also inside you and me.
May we see the humanity on the other side. May we not DISCOUNT love because it was shown by someone we disagree with. May we recognize that unity isn’t exclusively the “other side’s” problem.
And may we stop trying to justify ourselves long enough to let God show us where WE might need to change, repent, and move towards love.
Romans 12:18 says this:
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
How will we live that this week?
Yes and thank you. This line…”God knows the problem is on the other side. And God knows it is also inside you and me.” — word.
Can you unpack how the parable of the good Samaritan (as it would have been understood by the original audience) is commenting on relationships between those who are not in covenant community together? Specifically thinking that the quote “love your neighbor as yourself” is coming from Lev 19:9-18 where the context is fellow Israelites (not strangers or sojourners), and also that Samaritans were Jews, albeit looked down on because they intermarried with non-jews during the exile time. The takeaway doesn’t seem to be one of universal brotherhood/”neighbor-hood” of all humans.
Not challenging the overall point you’re making here, as its a good one people should take to heart. Just pushing for precision in handling the scriptures, so that we don’t read back in 21st century assumptions, thus creating a moral/application/meaning where its not supported. Matt 5:43-48 (Sermon on the mount – Love Your Enemies) actually seems to make your case much more clearly.
Hello Jim- Although I see where you’re coming from, I actually believe that the “enemies” I’m speaking to most strongly in my message ARE, in fact, fellow believers. We use the same Scripture to defend our opposing beliefs, the same God to justify our separate sides. This is why both of the “good Samaritans” in my modern parable twist are labeled Christians. At the same time, I don’t believe the parable is ultimately saying that our neighbors are restricted to those in “covenant community”.
I would also press back that a broad understanding of Scripture must be employed to correctly handle many verses. If we over-contextualize the parable of the good Samaritan, we undermine the very heart of Jesus’ message. But to your point, if we under-contextualize it, we may also miss valuable clues about the implications for our life.
Some of my great frustration in debating doctrine/theology with people is the way we tend to pick and choose which passages to contextualize and which to apply broadly. I have certainly fallen into the trap myself of holding certain passages under more or less scrutiny in relation to a bias. It is for that reason that I know I need voices like yours that will point to a side I may have missed.
Ok, fair enough on the characters in your variations of the parable. I had read in one of the first paragraphs something about addressing the division/hatred in the United States, and was thinking about this through a political lens, but I went back and read it again and see how you worked in the Christian identities of the players.
If I understand your other point correctly (how the parable applies to more than just those who are believers / “covenant community”), there is an over-arching principle that God is concerned with the poor/marginalized/disenfranchised who may or may not be in the covenant community. This trajectory started in the Old Testament, and was continued/enhanced through Jesus’ coming to earth and commissioning his followers. Does that sound about right?
I like your phrasing of “a broad understanding of Scripture must be employed”, which is what I think I’m trying to do. My thinking on the matter has been changed recently through a book I read called “Endangered Gospel” https://tinyurl.com/y2wyaw2l , which actually comes from a somewhat neo-anabaptist point of view (similar to your friend Greg Boyd). I can’t hope to cover that and do it justice here, so the best I can do is point you to a Q&A section that deals with the Good Samaritan parable (see question #3) https://www.endangeredgospel.com/new-page-1
You are welcome to borrow the book sometime, but I will need collateral 😉