Luk 10:30 …As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers attacked him and grabbed everything he had. They beat him up and ran off, leaving him half dead. Luk 10:31 A priest happened to be going down the same road. But when he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. Luk 10:32 Later a temple helper came to the same place. But when he saw the man who had been beaten up, he also went by on the other side. (CEV)

Interestingly, in this time period, a good Jewish person avoided anyone from Samaria. Jesus is urging us to look past our differences as He tells this story of the Good Samaritan.

Luk 10:33 A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him Luk 10:34 and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. Luk 10:35 The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, "Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return." Luk 10:36 Then Jesus asked, "Which one of these three people was a real neighbor to the man who was beaten up by robbers?" Luk 10:37 The teacher answered, "The one who showed pity." Jesus said, "Go and do the same!" (CEV)

It is very important that people have Christ as their Savior. Can we assume that if someone is unsaved, they are the equivalent of a man lying on the side of the road who has been robbed and beaten and in need of assistance? They may appear to be in perfect health and living the perfect life but they may be very ill and not know it.

How do we respond to anyone who scowls at us and insists we need to do something? Does it make us want to run out and do it? When someone shows interest in us and in our accomplishments and our lives, we consider them a friend. If someone listens to our every word, non-critically, and shows they are genuinely interested in what we are saying, we would consider them our best friend, wouldn't we?

Jesus spent much of His time with the sinners of the day because they needed His truth, more than those who were already obeying God's Word.

It certainly is comfortable to hang out only with those in agreement with us. But what of the many unsaved people who have not heard of Jesus Christ or, if they've heard of Him, it has not been in the proper light and they did not see His relevance or love? We know it is the Holy Spirit who quickens hearts and makes them ready to receive Him, but we do play a part in this process. We must remain ever alert and ready to love the unlovable. It isn't as hard as one might think. We don't have to try to convince them of anything. We just need to be willing to listen to them and ask questions of their lives. As we listen, pray to God that our hearts be alert to His promptings and that their hearts are quickened by the Holy Spirit and made ready.

Remember always, love is kind. Love is patient. Love is never over-bearing or fault-finding. Perfect love casts out fear (it certainly does not cause fear). So if we get impatient and want to blurt out how they need to be saved before their hearts are made ready, we may jeopardize the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing another lost soul Home.

If we use a fear tactic to try to bring them to the Lord, we will most certainly lose another opportunity to reach the lost.

We must remember that we cannot judge another human being. Who are we to think we know hearts better than God? Our judgments are always completely wrong if for no other reason than the Lord has asked us not to judge at all. So judging is disobedience, on the one hand and far off the mark of accuracy, on the other hand. Either way, it is simply not expedient or practical to try and "figure out" somebody. Leave that to God. Be an open door to the love of God. Show them you care. We should not have any agenda except to be alert to the Holy Spirit and praying for them in our hearts.

We do not respond well to someone who is judging us, so it is important to remember someone else does not respond well to our judgment either. Remember what we are doing. Are we out to save souls or repel them from the Lord? We will scare them away from the Lord if we judge them, so keep that in mind.

We should not walk in arrogance and self-righteousness--judging others for their beliefs, practices, race or preferences. The Lord showed compassion on the lost. He met them where they were and gently, tenderly discipled them into all truth. We must be careful, when witnessing to a potential convert, that we don't beat them over the head with our understanding of truth. The Bible is clear about what God expects of us all. If, however, our hearts become defiled by judgment, rather than encouraging and loving, it is we who are in need of healing for we have become useless to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus went to the places where the lost and sinful dwelt. He spoke the truth to them, wherever they were and whatever they were doing. He healed them, blessed them, and loved them.

As Jesus said, we must remove the logs from our eyes FIRST before we can see to remove the speck in our brother's eye. What tinted and tainted "logs" are we looking through that view certain people as attacking us? With the logs removed, we will be able to see they are calling for God's love. Often we, free of our logs, are the only ones who can make His love available.

Let's keep in mind that people are not drawn to our faith when we have labeled them "wrong." It could be considered an attack against them if we confront them about their beliefs or practices. Remember they may be speaking incorrect doctrine and upside down philosophy, but because God created them, there is a spark within their hearts that seeks the one, true God. We need to learn to see beyond the appearances of error in other people, no matter what their doctrines or beliefs. When we have a sense of superiority rather than pure, Christ-like love, we build a wall that hinders, rather than leads them to Christ. Our judgment against them could be fatal to their coming to Christ. Is our being "right" more important than reaching this soul? I pray it isn't.

Learning to be a Good Samaritan can really open up our Christian lives to bless many more people who dwell outside our normal Christian circle. The challenge is set. We can't witness and lead the lost to Christ, if we remain secluded in self-righteous avoidance of them. Nor can we reach them if we have mentally lifted ourselves high above them. The meaning of being a Good Samaritan is that we don't think of ourselves more highly than we ought, rather we consider every human a part of our fallen race--in need of God's help.

The attitude we want to have for all people of other faiths and philosophies is one of love and compassion. There really is no other way to get the word out about salvation through Christ. All ways other than this one in which we live the Christian life compassionately, will drive people away from, not toward, our Lord.

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