Dear Fellow Christians,

I don’t want to sound like an alarmist, but it might be a wise idea to tap the brakes on the path we claim to be walking on these days, and do a little ‘heart check’ …as we are admonished to do in 2 Cor. 13:5.

I would like to direct your attention to Luke 10, where a ‘certain lawyer stood up to test Jesus, asking Him: “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (25)

Jesus immediately directed this man to the ‘law’, asking him what his take was on it. (26). Being a lawyer, he did a good job summing it up with how we are commanded to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength…and to love our neighbor as ourself. (27)

Jesus commended him on his response, affirming him of his understanding of the 'law', then adding…(which we should all take note of): “You have answered correctly; do this…and you will live.” (28)

The lawyer was not finished, as we are told he wanted to ‘justify himself’…which is interesting.  So he asked Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?” (29)

And that’s when Jesus shared a very familiar story that I would hope we have all heard at some point in time: the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’. Jesus describes how a ‘certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho’ and on the way he was attacked by some thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and left him there to die. (30)

This…is where the story can get uncomfortably…convicting. The first two people to come up on this poor soul were a priest and a Levite, who both made a very conscious and deliberate choice to ‘not get involved’, as they both stepped around the wounded man to continue their journey. Jesus gives us no indication as to what their reasoning was for taking this evasive action, and it would only be speculation to assume why they chose to not get involved; but I don’t believe Jesus was intending to paint these two men in a favorable light, either.

Now, I am going to take some liberty here to ‘speculate’, and I have a very purposeful reason in doing this today, so bear with me. What if…that first man, the priest, ‘had a hunch’ that the victim did not have proper papers to prove he was a ‘legal citizen’ of that region/country. It would be easy to deduct that if he was an ‘illegal immigrant’…he probably got what he had coming to him since he was the first one to ‘break laws’ by coming in to that country to begin with; so no point in helping him now. Just let him lay there and ICE will eventually pick him up and ship him out, which is what he ‘deserves’, right?

[For some of you who just read that....did you sense 'something' sort of 'rise up' within you, almost like getting 'kicked or elbowed' and it wasn't a pleasant feeling?  Might want to pause a moment and evaluate what that 'was']

Next, came the Levite who also ‘sidestepped’ the pathetic soul, making his way around him. I can only wonder if he was able to assess that this victim was of ‘another faith’, and didn’t believe like him. At the time of this story being told, there were no ‘Muslims’ yet, but if Jesus was relaying this story today…it could be possible this man practiced Islam, and what better reason to ignore him in his time of suffering. Let him cry out to ‘Allah’ if he really needs help, right? And if he dies there on the road, that’s one less Muslim to worry about coming in to our country to take over and put us all under Sharia law, right?

Then, Jesus finishes up the story, using a ‘Samaritan’ as an example of who did the ‘right thing’. The fact Jesus chose to use a neighboring citizen from another country who were despised by many Jews at that time, is no small detail either. But this man did stop, and got involved, and did what he could in that moment and at that time, with what he had...promising to follow up as well. Jesus then turned and asked the lawyer…”Which of these three do you think was neighborly to him who fell among the thieves?” (36). Again, the lawyer answered correctly saying: “He who showed mercy.” (37).

That’s when Jesus again, affirmed his response and said: “Go and do likewise.”

You do realize…fellow Christians…that ‘with the same judgement we show…so shall we also be judged’? (Matt. 7:1-2; Luke 6:37-38). Sounds like the ‘Golden Rule’, does it not? (Matt.7:12)

I know some will only see this as a ‘political’ post, which honestly...is the last thing on my mind. But I do have to say that it has been a growing concern of mine (from what I read and hear lately) that a large segment of the ‘Conservative Christian Community’…are going down a dangerous path where they are being driven by ‘fear and hate’ in ‘demonizing’ large segments of the population. I’ve heard with my own ears, people who claim to ‘love Jesus’ say that they believe ‘every last one of those people who came in to this country ‘illegally’ need to be rounded up and shipped back to their countries!’. No room for discussion, and if they want to come back, they can do it the 'right way'.  I suppose those who feel this way have a valid point though, given the example Jesus set when He was ministering in Capernaum. (Mark 2:1-12). Remember what happened?

There were large crowds gathered around the home He was preaching in, when a group of four men brought a paralytic to be prayed for by Jesus.  Because of the crowd size, there was no way for them to get in close, so they decided to make their way to the roof, hoisting their paralyzed friend to the top and started to remove pieces of the roof before lowering the man down in the front of Jesus. Sounds to me like they 'broke in'. Now... help me out here because this is where the story might get fuzzy...but didn't Jesus rebuke them for not waiting their turn in line?  Did He then instruct them to go back from where they came from and if they really wanted to have their needs met, come back and do it the 'right way'?  Wait...that's not what happen...go read vs. 5 if you want to see what really transpired.  Moving right along here...

And the latest group of people being targeted in our country are Muslims who practice the faith of Islam. Friends, I am in no way suggesting that I, and those who practice Islam are ‘brothers’, nor do I have an inclination to study and walk in agreement with that particular faith. But I am aware that as a Christian, we were called to ‘go into all the world and preach the gospel’, which would include meeting people who didn’t look, think, believe, or act like us. We were not instructed by Jesus to go out and demonize them, or to ‘ban them’ or to ‘round them up and remove them’.

So here’s a thought: What if God…is behind bringing them all here to our shores where they could hear the gospel…since we have found it rather impractical to go to them, for a host of reasons? When was the last time you sat down with a Muslim to get to know them and to share the gospel with them? (Simply 'inviting them to church doesn't count)

If you think I’m being naive to suggest such a thing, then you don’t want to miss tomorrow’s message, as I will give you the benefit of the doubt and will play along with the line of thinking that all those folks are indeed the real 'enemy' that we all need to be worried about. 

Oh, and when it comes to ‘demonizing’ any segment of the population, you do realize that the whole world…has been ‘demonized’, which is why they need to hear the gospel (1 John 5:19; Acts 26:18; John 3:17-18,36; Eph. 2:1-3; 2 Tim. 2:24-25). In fact, you can even claim to ‘love God/Jesus’ yourself, and still be ‘demonized’ (John 8:44).

Meet me back here tomorrow?