On Wednesday, I attended a seminar entitled, “The State of Pastors: Leading in Complexity.” It was the unveiling of a massive study undertaken by the Barna Group with generous funding from Pepperdine University. The Barna Group specifically studies and researches all things church related. If you have never heard of this organization before, they do good work and great research.

I am still going through the data (because it is extensive) but I wanted to share a couple of interesting findings with you.

11,000 pastors were asked how they rate themselves on ministry tasks. Below is the percentage of how they ranked themselves as “excellent” in each task.

• Preaching and teaching             57%
• Knowledge of Scripture             48%
• Applied or practical theology 42%
• Leading the organization 29%
• Connecting with the community 29%
• Managing church finances 28%
• Counseling or pastoral care 24%
• Personal spiritual growth 22%
• Using technology for ministry 18%
• Managing staff 16%
• Evangelizing people 10%
• Mobilizing volunteers 6%

Notice the quick drop off after “applied or practical theology.” Even the highest rated category of “preaching and teaching”- only 57% of pastors rated themselves as excellent. It is clear to me that many pastors do not feel well equipped for the calling they have undertaken.

It was mentioned that pastors today are much more like CEOs than pastors because they are expected to lead an organization and not just preach, teach and visit the sick. As you can see above, not many feel equipped to do that very thing.

One other statistic that caught my eye today: Pastors’ reliability on specific issues, by faith practice. This is what other people believe about the role of pastor.

People outside of the category “practicing Christians” do not believe pastors have the authority or “reliability” to speak on the issues found in the table. What does that mean? Overall, pastors have less authority/influence outside the church than they used to. That may seem obvious, but that was not the case in our recent past. We are definitely living in a “post-Christian society” much like the earliest disciples of Jesus who were living in a “pre-Christian society.”

This seminar’s title included this tag line, “leading in complexity.”  There is no doubt of that. These are complex times and the role of pastor requires many skills that are not taught in most seminaries. Often there is a lot of on the job training. I am reminded of that when I am asked by newer pastors, “what do I do when…” Yes, I still do a fair share of mentoring.

As I said earlier, I need to process this data before coming to any conclusions but I wanted to share a little of what I experienced today. If you are interested, I will share the published data with anyone (after I have finished going through it).

I am not surprised by anything I heard today, however it is good to see the research.

Even with the challenges, I love what I do and can’t see myself doing anything other than being a pastor.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Have you ever heard of Tim McMillan? I had not until a couple of weeks ago. He is a police officer in Georgia. He is an ordinary guy in a lot of ways. He even describes himself in this way,

“My life has been a chaotic jumble of accidents, ambitions, failures and unintended consequences. Through all of that I have discovered connections that have illuminated the world and revealed its infinite mystery. God is within us all, and therefore none of us are more important than all of us. I never wanted to be a police officer growing up. I wanted to be an astronomer, or psychologist. I love solving mysteries and no mystery is greater than the human mind and space.

In July of 2002, two of my friends were murdered during a robbery. I said ‘There are two kinds of people in this world, those who say someone needs to do something and those who say I am going to do something.’ I chose to be the later, and at 21 years old I became a police officer. “

He created a little buzz on Facebook back in October when posted story about an encounter he had while he was on patrol.

“I pulled a car over last night for texting and driving. When I went to talk to the driver, I found a young black male, who was looking at me like he was absolutely terrified with his hands up. He said, “What do you want me to do officer?” His voice was quivering. He was genuinely scared. 

I just looked at him for a moment, because what I was seeing made me sad. I said, “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

In which he replied, with his voice still shaking, “Do you want me to get out of the car.”

I said, “No, I don’t want you to text and drive. I don’t want you to get in a wreck. I want your mom to always have her baby boy. I want you to grow up and be somebody. I don’t even want to write you a ticket. Just please pay attention, and put the phone down. I just don’t want you to get hurt.” 

I truly don’t even care who’s fault it is that young man was so scared to have a police officer at his window. Blame the media, blame bad cops, blame protestors, or Colin Kaepernick if you want. It doesn’t matter to me who’s to blame. I just wish somebody would fix it.”

He saw the fear and trepidation first hand and it (rightly so) upset him. I can’t help but think of the words of Jesus when He said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” Matthew 20:25b-26

He is a servant… a public servant. Instead of being embolden by the power he held over that young man, it upset him. Instead of seeing the power he held as something to wielded, Officer McMillan wants to break down the barriers that separate people. That specifically includes racial barriers. Last Sunday I talked about process of God refining his people. As a silversmith skims of the impurities of precious metals, God wants to skim off anything inside of us that seeks separate us from loving God and loving our neighbor. Tim McMillan is living that out.

In this extremely polarized season of our country’s history. It is refreshing to see that there are some who refuse to buy into the idea of “that’s just the way it is.”

Tim is quoted as saying, “We don’t need to treat people the way they want to be treated…instead treat people the way we want others to treat our children.”

 All I can say to that is, “Amen.”

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Last week I shared an article on pastoral leadership styles that need to be avoided. Someone kindly asked me if there is a list for church members?  There is!

All of us know the old children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” As you have heard me say, that is not true. Words can hurt and words can kill. Read the article below and see what I mean.

Six Statements That Can Kill a Church.  Words can kill.
By Thom S. Rainer

Words can kill churches because they often have deadly actions behind them. As we begin this new year, please allow me to share six statements that I have heard from church members whose churches have died.

Please hear that last statement again: These are statements from church members whose churches have already closed their doors. I am convinced these statements were major contributors to the churches’ demise.

1. “We pay our pastor to do evangelism.” The common meaning behind this statement is that the members have no intentions of sharing their faith. A church with non-evangelistic members is a dying church.

2. “Without our money, this church would be in trouble.” Ouch! The key word here is “our.” Members with this attitude do not give with an open hand; they perceive the money they give to the church is their money, not God’s money. This tight-fisted non-stewardship, if prevalent in the church, is a sure sign of sickness or death.

3. “This church is not meeting my needs.” For certain, members’ needs should be met. But have you noticed that, often times, the most needy members are the first to complain and the first to leave? We should certainly care for the needs of the flock, but the attitude of the members should be that of serving instead of being served.

4. “We pay the salary of the pastor and staff, so they should listen to us.” This deadly statement has two major inflictors of pain. First, the money is treated with a tight fist, as I noted above. Second, the money is used to control leaders. I served in a church where a member made that statement to me frequently. Years after I left, I learned he never gave a dollar to the church.

5. “We will let the next generation deal with change.” When older generations make this statement, they are resolutely refusing to make necessary and immediate changes. Sadly, the next generations won’t stick around in such a church to make the changes.

6. “I was here years before the pastor came; I’ll be here years after they’re gone.” This statement is one of power and control rather than service and giving. It’s about out-lasting each pastor to keep the church just the way the member wants it. It’s a statement that was commonly heard in churches that have closed their doors.

Interesting huh? I thought so too. Words to remember. I am thankful I have never heard these words at Bethel, yet this is a good list to remember so that we do not repeat the mistakes of others.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

I know you may find this hard to believe, but I think a lot about my calling as pastor. As you know I am far from perfect but I constantly think about how effective I am and how that varies depending upon the situation and the people I am interacting with. I know it might seem that I am living life by the seat of my pants, I can assure you that I am not.

Every day I ponder how we can embody our own self defined core values of hospitality, Christ-Centered Community, Spiritual Growth, Generosity and Responding to Needs.

With that in mind I ran across an article by Scott Postma entitled 10 Pastors You Should Have MAJOR Concerns About. This is an article that caused me to stop and look at myself in the proverbial mirror.

Below are the 10 points he makes:

1. I’m concerned about the pastor who is better at managing church programs than he is at making disciples of Jesus.

2. I’m concerned about the pastor who attracts people with fancy self-help sermons instead of teaching people to be students of the Bible and theology.

3. I’m concerned about the pastor who is a chief executive instead of a contemplative sage.

4. I’m concerned about the pastor who uses the pulpit to milk members instead of minister to the saints.

5. I’m concerned about the pastor who makes growing the church the goal instead of glorifying God the goal.

6. I’m concerned about the pastor who builds his ministry with people instead of building people by his ministry.

7. I’m concerned about the pastor who cultivates a culture of dependency on himself instead of cultivating a culture of community within the church.

8. I’m concerned about the pastor who reads and teaches the Bible literally instead of literarily.

9. I’m concerned about the pastor who contributes to the culture of consumerism instead of combating idolatry.

10. I’m concerned about the pastor who sees the church as a stepping stone instead of seeing it as a custodian of Christ’s kingdom.

Quite a list, isn’t it? These are pastoral potholes and as difficult they are to read, they serve as a good checklist for me in the new year. Are things that I am doing that I need to change? Yes. Are things I am not doing that I need to work towards? Absolutely.

I love what I do and I look forward to growing the church in 2017 as I grow myself.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Here we are again. It is the end of the year and we will step into a new one Sunday morning. Although this is a secular holiday will many stop their routine and celebrate the incoming year- sometimes late into the evening. Some reflect on the year coming to an end and wonder what the new year will bring.

For many years, my family would welcome the new year with my parents in the north woods of Wisconsin surrounded by snow, trees and frozen lakes. It was very peaceful. This year, I will go to bed early so that I can wake up early and get ready for church (hint, hint). What a great way to welcome in the new year!

Our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the New Year as a religious event, maybe we should too. The Jewish New Year celebration is called Rosh Hashana. There is even mention of it in the book of Leviticus.

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the Lord by fire.’ ” Leviticus 23:23-25

However, their calendar is different than ours and they celebrated their new year back in October.

The day is commemorated with the blast of the ram’s horn which is known as the shofar and a day off to commune with God. There is no one reason for why the shofar is sounded like a trumpet. Many rabbis have speculated on this biblical ancient tradition. It serves as a call to gather the worshipping community; it is sounded as a spiritual warning and as an alarm clock for people to awake from their spiritual slumber.

Why?  Ten days after Rosh Hashanah, our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate the one of the most important holy days on their calendar: Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The day of forgiveness and repentance.

The Jewish New Year and the next ten days are used to get one’s spiritual affairs in order before the Day of Atonement.

This all sounds fairly serious and it is. However, there is also a tradition of serving apples dipped in honey which is a symbolic action of hoping a person’s new year is sweet.

As I think about the upcoming change of year, I think the Jewish people celebrate it right. It is a time of introspection and reflection. It is a perfect time to decide what kind of people we are going to be moving forward. It is time to let go of what needs to be forgotten and embrace the positive change that God calls us to be in 2017 and beyond.

So, eat an apple with a little honey on Sunday for me because hope your new year is sweeter than 2016.

God bless you,
Pr. Ben

It is Thursday before Christmas and all through the church… the Bethel staff have been working feverishly! They are getting ready for services on Christmas Eve. That is no exaggeration. Every staff person who came to church today has been tying up all the loose ends of all our Christmas planning to make sure everyone who worships with us on Saturday experiences the love God.

That may not be inspirational writing to you, but it is extremely inspirational to me! I see the care and dedication first hand and it warms my heart. I am blessed to work alongside these people every day.  If you are a member of Bethel Lutheran Church, I want you to know what a great team we have!

My hope and prayer is that you (where ever you are) go and worship this weekend. I can’t help but think about the shepherds in the Christmas story. After the angels come and scare the heck out of them, they say to themselves, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” Luke 2:15

 They most likely leave behind the only thing in their charge and their only asset: sheep. The leave the fields and head into town to find a baby who is the savior and the Lord (God). That is typical of God’s call. Leave everything behind and go.

Later, when this baby grows up, he says this to someone- “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 Repeatedly, Jesus tells people to leave what they have or what they are doing and follow him. From my own experience, I know that when I seek Jesus first, everything else falls into place. That is not to say that my life is perfect but I do know that things are better when I follow Jesus.

For me it began by being a shepherd just like in the Christmas story. What do I mean by that? Someone told the shepherds to go and they went. My life has been a lot like that… Someone told me to go to church and so I did. Someone told me to go to church camp and so I did. Someone told I should think about going to seminary and so I did. Someone asked me to come to Las Vegas to be a pastor and so I did. I could go on, but you catch my drift.

Often the voice of God sounds a lot like other Christians you know. People like: moms, dads, siblings, friends and spouses.

So be a shepherd on Saturday and go find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying a manger. Where you ask? The closest church…Bethel or otherwise.

I wish you a blessed and peaceful Christmas from the bottom of my heart.

With love,
Pr. Ben

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:13-14

Most of you know where these two verses come from: The Christmas story. This is what the angels said to the unsuspecting shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem. I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that the angel encounter might have scared them half to death! They were terrified and I can’t blame them. You know how I feel about angels. A little cherub would send me running for the hills.

After the announcement of the Savior’s birth and instructions on how to find the baby Jesus, the angel grabs the microphone and begins to praise God singing, “Glory to God in the highest….” I think it is safe to say the angel burst into song and his backup singers arrived just in time to… well, you know, back him up.

I find this to be an interesting song to sing. Maybe it is a classic in heaven? I could think of better songs to announce the birth of Jesus. This one just doesn’t roll off the tongue. Maybe it rhymed in Aramaic when the shepherds heard it sung the first time?

The song begins, “Glory to God in the highest…” Glory is an interesting word. It has multiple meanings. Glory is something bestowed on someone who is deserving of an honor. Yet when we talk of God’s glory, we are talking about God’s perfection.

In this case the angels are saying- because God sent himself to us—God deserves the highest praise possible. As if to say, “Our God is an awesome God!” I completely agree. It is the next verse that throws me.

“…and on earth peace to all on whom his favor rests.” The angel wishes peace upon all who follow God. The less accurate translations say, “Peace on earth, goodwill to all.” Most of us know that version because it is still sung in the Christmas hymn “Hark the Herald, Angels Sing.” I like it better too because it is a blessing for everyone. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t say that.

The angel’s proclamation states (wishes) that all who have garnered God’s favor should be peaceful. I guess it kind of makes sense since the baby Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace.

Here is the interesting thing about peace, it is not the absence of war. That is called a truce. Jesus is not the “Prince of Truces” and the angels didn’t sing, “a truce on earth for all whom God likes a lot.” Peace is something that takes more work than a truce.  Peace, like war must be waged. It is an active pursuit. Seriously! How did Jesus wage peace? He died for the sins of the world. That is active! He was all in.

Peace means getting along with others, not just co-existing. I would like to think that Jesus the Prince of Peace not only loved the world but He liked us too.

Above all, we need more peace in this world. We can’t wait for Jesus to return. Let’s wage some peace this season and in the coming year by being kind and compassionate to all.

Jesus is anything but neutral. He is not the “Prince of Truces.” Let’s show the world this Christmas what peace looks like.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

On Wednesday night, we hosted Rabbi Dana Magat from Temple Emanu-El in San Jose. I kept thinking about something he said to us about Reformed Judaism. Essentially Rabbi Dana said that our actions have eternal significance. How we act in this life has ramifications in our afterlife. I am sure the good Lutherans in the room bristled at the comment as they remembered Martin Luther’s explanation of the second article of the Apostles’ Creed. (Am I right? Ha!)

Here is what Pr. Luther wrote: I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, delivered me and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with silver and gold but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death, in order that I may be his, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

We Lutherans say– we don’t have to worry about how we act because Jesus saved us by offering himself as a sacrifice on the cruel Roman cross. It is God’s grace that covers our sins and we don’t have to worry about the afterlife if we believe in Jesus.

As Pr. Luther would say, “This is most certainly true.”

BUT…

There is always a “but.” Remember what I said last night, “Lutherans live life in the grey.” We wrestle and sometimes do not resolve things and that is ok too. There is another Rabbi from 2000 years ago whom we follow also said this about this life and the afterlife:

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 

 ²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 

 ²² “The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 

 ²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 

 ²⁴ “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 

 ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 

 ²⁸ “ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25:14-30

 Before I even talk about this parable of Jesus you need to know that this is in a section of Matthew where Jesus is talking about the end times, judgment and the afterlife. This parable reminds us that our actions today (this life) have ramifications for our tomorrow (the afterlife).

Jesus teaches us that what we do with our gifts (abilities, passions, skills, etc.) have some bearing on our future. If we waste or hoard what has been given to us; we will answer for that. The amount of what we have (abilities, passions, skills, etc.) been given isn’t the measure of acceptability. It is what we do them (no matter how small) that matters to God.

It is the difference between asking my son (when he was in school), “Did you get an A on the test?” versus “Did you do the best you possibly could do?” The point I am trying to make is this: God isn’t looking for perfection. He is looking for our best effort. Notice the servant in the parable who doesn’t make an effort with what he was given. It did not end well for him.

The parable is not meant to scare anyone. It is meant for us to reflect on the kind of life we are living and whether it matches up with God’s expectations. Those who are truly following Jesus think about their actions. Those who rely on what Pr. Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace” do not. To put it another way, “If your faith hasn’t changed you, it probably hasn’t save you.”

I understand that sounds a little harsh but it gets at the heart of what Jesus was teaching. As God is generous with us by giving us gifts (abilities, passions, skills, etc.) we use those gifts to be generous with others. If we neglect those gifts or keep them to ourselves, we will have to answer for that.

Of course, we cannot earn our way to heaven. Yet there is something to be said about the quality of afterlife we will have based on how we live our lives today. If you doubt me, go re-read the parable of Jesus.

On Wednesday, one Rabbi reminded me of what another Rabbi once said.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

I was thinking about this story earlier today and the implications it has for us as worshippers of Christ… I know, I know, I think about weird stuff a lot.

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain-fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?  In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-28

Jesus was walking through a field of grain with his disciples on the Sabbath day of rest. As they walked through this field some of them plucked a few heads of grain and most likely popped them in their mouths.

When the religious authorities saw this, they interpreted what they saw as “harvesting the crops.” (Clearly they weren’t.) None the less, the Pharisees accuse Jesus and his disciples of doing work on the Sabbath and therefore sinning.

How is this sinning? Let’s go back and see what the Law says…

Deuteronomy 5:12-14 says this about that commandment, “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.”

The Sabbath day is a day of rest for everyone. There are clear instructions about what can be construed as work if you do enough of it and clearly Jesus wasn’t working.

Yet Jesus points out “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Sabbath means a day of rest and a day of atonement. God gave us the Sabbath for our benefit. When we start adding rules about how that happens, we lose sight of the gift of rest and atonement.

This is a classic case of the confusing the means with the end. The ultimate goal of the Sabbath is not to work 7 days a week. Taking a day and resting is good. Even more than just resting, God says to make the Sabbath day holy. Set it apart as special. God wants us to remember Him on the Sabbath day too because God is holy.

The problem comes when we set all sorts of rules (privately or publicly) about what kind of Sabbath makes a real Sabbath.

We get so caught up on what makes up the Sabbath—we miss what God intends: A Day of Rest and a day of atonement.

Religion can get in the way of the kind of Sabbath God wants for us. God wants to have a relationship with us where we trust Him and His promises. The proof is in the gift of Jesus who came to earth to show us how much God loves and then gave his life as a sacrifice of atonement to remove all the barriers (sin) that would keep us from God. To help foster this relationship God would like to have with us, he designates a day to not work so that we can rest and think about Him.

Sounds good so far, right? The problem begins when we start adding rules (and sometimes they are personal rules) about how we connect with God on the Sabbath. Yes, I am talking about we say and do at worship on our Sabbath… Sunday mornings.

I probably could list 100 things I have heard people say about worship that begins with the following sentence: “It really isn’t worship if we don’t…”

• Say a creed
• Sing certain hymns
• Have three Bible Readings
• Have Communion every Sunday
• Feel a little guilty
• And the list goes on…

You all know what I am talking about. We all have our preferences and preferences are fine but when we impose them on everyone else, it becomes a burden. This is often played out in another sentence I hear almost every year at church this time of year: “It isn’t really Christmas until I…” Now someone’s Christmas is dependent upon me doing the thing they like/want. That is a lot of pressure!

I am sure God does not have a worship rule book in heaven. I am also fairly sure God doesn’t send the angels to make sure we are doing it right. Why? Because: “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

God will not grade us on the quality or quantity of worship we participate in. God looks at the intention of our hearts. God wants to connect with you without personal “rules of engagement” or be bound to the container of Sunday morning worship. Be open to the gift of the Spirit. Now and always.

Happy Advent,
Pr. Ben

In Luke 10:25-37 an expert in Jewish Law asks Jesus about what he must do to go to heaven. As an expert in Jewish Law, he knew the answer. He was testing Jesus.

Not surprising, Jesus turns the table on him and asks the expert, “What does the Jewish Law say?”

Quick with an answer the “lawyer” replies, “‘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.’” 

The expert summarizes the entire Law of Moses in one sentence. Jesus affirms this answer.

That answer was not satisfying enough. He had to take it a step further. (He should know better than to push Jesus.) The expert in the law asked this, “And who is my neighbor?” 

Hold on to your hats, Jesus is going to tell a story… and he did. The parable of the Good Samaritan. Here it is (if you don’t know the story)…

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 

In one paragraph Jesus offends pretty much everyone. The two people who passed by the injured man were like the “expert in the law.” They were too busy with their own careers to help this man. The unsaid implication was this: if the priest or Levite stopped and helped this man, they would be deemed “unclean” and unfit for service at the Temple in Jerusalem. They chose to remain clean and walk on by.

The Samaritan helped this poor guy. Yet Samaritans in Jesus’ time were viewed as impure half-breeds and heretics. The Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews for terrible reasons. It was racist. The Jewish authorities essentially kicked the Samaritans out of the “family” 500 years before Jesus for “mixing” with non-Jewish Tribes at that point the Samaritans began to worship God somewhere else (Mt. Gerizim). That made the Samaritans heretics too since the only place you can truly worship God was the Temple in Jerusalem.

Yet Jesus points out that the un-redeemable and horrible Samaritan was more compassionate than the priest and Levite. Tell me that wasn’t upsetting to the expert in the Law?

Yet Jesus doesn’t answer the question posed by this lawyer (Who is my neighbor?). Instead Jesus asks this, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” 

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” 

See what Jesus did there? He didn’t answer the original question of “Who is my neighbor?”. Instead Jesus instructs the expert of the law and us to be a neighbor.

The original question gets at “Who do I have to be nice to?”. Jesus flips the script and tells us that this question is not as important as being neighborly. The main ingredient of being a neighbor is having mercy on people.

Notice, Jesus doesn’t put qualifications on who we should be neighborly to. Just “Go and do likewise.” Be merciful to people… especially those who are struggling in any way (like the injured guy who probably was not a Samaritan).

What does this have to do with us today as Christians. A lot actually. Recently there has been a movement of declaring yourself a “safe person” to all people by wearing a safety pin. The safety pin obvious symbolizes that you are a safe person to all people without qualification. It is a sign of being neighborly and showing mercy to those who might need a neighbor right now. I have nothing against being that kind of person in the world (no surprise there, right?).

However, what makes me sad is that the “cross” we wear as jewelry and the cross we display on our cars and other places does not symbolizes safety unless you are a fellow Christian (to those on the outside.) If I were to wear a cross on my lapel, it may cause some people to fear me because of what I may “stand for” as a Christian. That is not to say we are all “like that.” It is clear to me that the Christian family does not appear to be “safe” for other people when we must resort to using safety pins and not the cross of Christ.

Being neighborly shouldn’t be conditional. The expert in the law was hoping to discover who he could be merciful to- and more importantly who he did not have to be kind to. Jesus doesn’t define who our neighbor is, instead he instructs us to be a merciful neighbor to all without condition.

I would like the cross to be a sign of God’s compassion again and not a symbol that causes someone to pause and wonder if we are safe people to talk to or wonder if we will help them in their time of trouble.

God bless,
Pr. Ben