Luke 10:25-37
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.[a] “Teacher,”
he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said
to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” 27 He
answered, “You shall 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 your
neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have given
the right answer; do this, and you will live.”
29 But wanting to justify himself, he
asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man
was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers,
who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now
by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the
place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a
Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with
pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured
oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn,
and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,[b] gave them
to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will
repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do
you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He
said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Wounded Believer
After
reading and thinking about the parable of the Good Samaritan, I wonder several
things. I wonder who is the most wounded
in this story? Jesus of course has the
right to pass judgment but instead uses this example to teach us so many things
such as compassion, love, and humility.
But if we look deeper, aren’t there many Wounded Believers in this
story? And although we are wounded, is
anyone absolved from their responsibility to show love and compassion to
another?
Interestingly
in Jesus’ story, both initial men who passed on the opposite side of the road
so as to avoid the beaten man were men with placement and honor in God’s
House. The Priest, of course, holding a
most high position in direct connection with God. The Levite an honored member of the lineage
of Levi and then comes the rigid Samaritan.
Of all three of these individuals, it is the uptight Samaritan who gets
dirty in showing love, kindness, and compassion.
I have been
thinking about this story for abit. One
of the themes in my life has been that I’ve always told people that one
incident does not a reputation make!
However it is repeated incidents which shape one’s character and
reputation.
Ray and I
have had some recent encounters with some of my previous environment colleagues
and we both received very cool responses.
The responses by these high level individuals perplexed me because I
didn’t do anything to them, that I can recall, which would elicit the responses
received.
So I began
to question and reflect, as I always do.
Some of my thoughts have settled upon this notion: we are all Wounded Believers. It is what we believe in, that differs.
While I (and
Ray) are more believers in values I am realizing that others are believers in
persons. Whereas Ray and I tend to stand
on enduring values such as faith, compassion, and so on, we ultimately will
make a decision in favor of a value over a person. Not everyone lives their life in this
manner.
In light of
the last two years, I realize now that some individuals were/are so aligned
with a person that they will forego warmth, politeness, and caring because they
feel a person has been wronged-not necessarily that a value has been violated,
but a person they believed in has been wronged.
My thoughts
are that ultimately we are all fallen people so believing in a value seems to
be a more pure intention than believing in another person who may or may not be
telling us the truth.
However I
realize that for some the dichotomy was severe.
Whereas I believe my story is valid, I am able to recognize that the
story lived for others is/was very different.
My story is not their story.
Sadly though, those indivdiuals cannot seem to believe that their story
is not my story. Promotions, raises,
recognitions, and access to “ears” came easily for some. Not for me.
So when
accusations came forward one incident does not a reputation make! So what is one accusation? A thorough investigation (say one that takes
eight weeks?) surely would have invalidated any false accusations. A lower level investigation would have
discounted my word easily saying that one person is simply disgruntled or
something of the like. Or a local
investigation which did not fact check could easily stack the deck against a
lowly staff member officing in a closet.
However,
when you have so many accusations that it takes you eight weeks to wade
through. Or it is public knowledge that
greater than ten former accusations were filed in the two previous years…I do
believe a pattern of some kind if forming.
At that
point individuals have to choose to believe the accusations or discount the
claims. In a first round, I can see how
easy it would be to discount accusations.
I too would expect to withhold judgment until a thorough investigation
was conducted.
When second,
third, and beyond accusations move forward, when we have the level of
investigation that removes someone from their position for eight weeks before announcing
the person is no longer available, you again have to face the question of believe
or discount.
If you
decide to discount again, then I believe you are teetering on denial. Or maybe you feel the power is so strong you
still have to keep up the show else you’re the next victim? Even as the victims cry out?
Even though
I have received cold treatment by the powers that now be, I still hold to the
value that we are all called to “Love God and love others” and no one should
shoulder blame in this situation.
Honestly I
followed the Matthew 18 principle in that I went and asked multiple times to be
respected, to be valued, and to be useful.
When that did not work, others went on my behalf. When that did not work and over two years had
passed, I asked a neutral party to simply investigate.
Should the
Priest have helped the beaten man? Yes,
he should have. However we don’t know
his story. Should the Levite have helped
the beaten man? Yes, he should
have. But again, we don’t know his
story. What we do know is that the
Samaritan did help, the beaten man was shown love, compassion, kindness, and
the face of God.
So on my
best days, I keep this in mind and realize just as I am a Wounded Believer, so
too are they. But on my worst days I am
hurt and angry at them and want to shake them and say “can’t you see” as I point
to the beaten man in the ditch which is my story.
