Recently, I read the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. The intention of the passage remained consistent, but my perspective of it has taken a varied angle. I sense there is an action plan for racial equity on an interpersonal level.
The man who was robbed, beaten, and left for dead is in plain sight. The priest saw him. The Levite looked at him. These two can visually assess that this man is broken and bleeding. No one has to convince them of what they see. No one has to present stats and data proving what they see. No one has to show them several news sites verifying what they see. The priest and the Levite who know the Law (love thy neighbor as thyself) see the problem, and they choose to go on the opposite side and walk past.
Now, the Samaritan, he saw the broken, bleeding man, also. However, he went to the side where the man was. He felt compassion for what he saw. Then, in a bold move, the Samaritan went directly to the man. The priest and Levite did not have compassion; they had the opposite feeling: callousness, hard-heartedness.
Christ does not say this, yet it can be inferred that the broken, bleeding man is a child of Israel. Samaritans (who are half-Israelite and half-Assyrian) and Israelites did not have anything to do with one another. However, this compassionate Samaritan chose to be a neighbor to the broken, bleeding Israelite that he has no life experience with and culturally stays away from.
All lives do not matter
The ongoing argument about “all lives matter” versus “black lives matter” has been exasperating. Of course, Christ expects us to love “all lives” as our neighbor, but with the telling of this parable, he admits knowing that even the most well-read theologians, Bible scholars, and pastors did not and do not treat all lives with love.
So, to whom will you be a neighbor? You see the racism and inequity occurring with black people, indigenous people, and other people of color. Your own eyes and ears are evidence that there is brokenness and hemorrhaging within the system.
Do you feel compassion?
Will you choose to stand on the side that needs your compassion?
Will you directly approach the problem?
Like a good Samaritan, will you break out of your cultural barriers and regularly scheduled life to come along side the people who are different from you?