Another Parable
By Judy Romero
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Among the crowd listening to Jesus was a certain Church of Christ preacher, known for his skillful debates on instrumental music, colleges, worldliness, etc., -- the talked-about problems of the day. He prided himself on his knowledge of the New Testament. He was often called in to congregations to settle disputes on these questions. He wanted to draw Jesus into a debate. So he stood and asked, "Sir, what do you say I must do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus replied, "What is written in the scriptures? What do you read there?" Surprised, but pleased to be recognized, the debater cautiously quoted, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind," and then, almost as an afterthought, "and thy neighbor as thyself."
Jesus answered. "You gave the right
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answer. Practice this and you will have eternal life."
Embarrassed to be treated so lightly and avoided so skillfully before those who knew his debating prowess, the preacher tried to justify his theories by asking, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus answered with the following story.
A certain man was walking through the city park after dark. A gang of thieves assaulted him, stole his wallet, jewelry and clothes, beat him up and left him almost dead. Soon a Church of Christ evangelist came hurrying through the park. He saw the unconscious man lying in rags. As he drew near he saw that the man had been beaten, and thought, "He was probably in a drunken brawl. I can't stop now. I am already late for the appointment with Sister Pinchpenny who has disturbed the congregation with her claim that we have no scriptural authority either in precept, example or logical inference, for a newspaper ad about our services. Then I must rush right over to talk to the son of Brother Piety who has caused his parents great embarrassment by refusing to attend the services. He upsets everyone by saying there is more religion practiced in a mausoleum than in our church. Maybe I can come back and help this man later, but I'd better wait until I consult the brethren about the best way to do it." The busy preacher crossed over to the other side of the path and looked pointedly in the other direction.
The victim was still unconscious, moaning weakly, when a prominent businessman who was also a member of the Church of Christ came by and looked down upon him.
"Well, that looks like Mr. Jones of the Methodist Church. I told him God would punish him for his disregard of the scriptures and here he is. Serves him right for not attending services when I invited him. I'd better get out of here before the police come. I can't afford to get involved in this kind of thing. They might even conjecture I had something to do with it and the Bible says we are not to let our good be evil spoken of." Saying this, he hurried on his way.
By chance there came along one from another denomination. He hastened to the side of the injured man, and with compassion he gave him what first aid he could. He then rushed to a nearby telephone and called for an ambulance. He assured payment of the man's hospital bill and visited him daily until he was released.
Jesus asked the questioner, "Tell me, which of these three showed the love of God and was a good neighbor to the robbery victim?"
The embarrassed debater was on the spot. He could not bring himself to commend a deed done by "a denominationalist," so he answered, "The one who helped him, I suppose!"
Jesus answered, "You have replied correctly again. Now you should go and do as that good denominationalist!"