Whether you’re a Bible-reading person or not, most of us
have heard reference to the parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus told this
parable because someone asked the question, “Who is my neighbor?” Although an
initial glance at this question may lead us to believe it was a stupid
question, I think it was actually a very intelligent question. When someone
uses a word in vague terms, such as in this case when we were commanded to love
our neighbors as ourselves, it can be extremely helpful to clarify the intended
definition of the word. In response, Jesus told a story to provide the man with
his definition of a neighbor.
In the Gospels, Jesus spoke quite a bit about poor, needy,
and oppressed people and the role he’s called us to play in serving them. At
the onset of Jesus’s ministry, he stated:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[1]
Jesus obviously believed he was commissioned to serve poor,
needy, and oppressed people. And he called his disciples to do the same. In
Matthew 25, Jesus said:
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we [do all these things]?” And the King will answer them, “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”[2]
It’s intriguing, though, that no one asked Jesus to define
these terms for us. No one followed up by asking the question, “Who are the
poor, needy, and oppressed?”
Who Is My Neighbor?
If you’re familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan, do
you remember the definition Jesus gave for the word “neighbor?” Was it the same
definition you had of a neighbor? If you’re unfamiliar with this story, I’ll
briefly share it using modern-day terms.
Let’s say you’re an avid Ohio State Buckeye fan and you’re
traveling north on SR23 through Ann Arbor. As you’re going through Ann Arbor,
your car breaks down along the side of the road. You pick up your cell phone to
call a tow-truck, but as you try to turn it on, you realize the battery is
dead. So you have no choice but to try to flag down someone to help you.
About fifteen minutes later, as you’re looking off into the
distance, you see an Ohio State bus coming down the road. What are the chances
of that, especially in Ann Arbor? As fellow Buckeyes, surely they’d stop to
help you. But the bus driver doesn’t skip a beat and continues driving the bus
right on by you. About a half hour later, you see a tow-truck with Ohio license
plates coming your way. Wow! Could this really be happening? So you wave your
arms in the air trying to get the tow-truck driver’s attention. But just like
the bus driver, he doesn’t skip a beat and continues driving right on by.
Now you’re getting pretty discouraged. The drivers of two
most-promising vehicles didn’t even pause for a moment to try to help you.
Overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness and paralysis, you open your car
door, sit down in the seat, and put your head in your hands. A couple minutes
later, you hear someone call out, “Hey, you need some help?” As you turn
around, you see a rough-looking guy wearing a navy blue hoodie with a big
yellow M on it standing behind your vehicle. Behind him is a beat up, rusty
vehicle from the 90s which you can only assume belongs to him. Having no other
choices at this point, you agree to let him help you. He calls for a tow-truck
and has your vehicle towed to the nearest mechanic shop. But he’s not finished
yet; he then proceeds to pay the entire repair bill for you, even after you
insist that you can cover it.
In this story, which of the three people acted most like
your neighbor? The Ohio State Buckeye bus driver, the Ohio license-plated-tow-truck
driver, or the avid Michigan fan? I know, it hurts to say it doesn’t it? The
Michigander proved to be your neighbor, even though you live in different
states and cheer for archrival sports teams.
Was this the definition you were expecting? When I picture
my neighbors, the first people that pop in my head are the ones who live next
door and across the street from me. But that’s not the way Jesus defined
neighbors. He opened up the definition to be inclusive of anyone, even of Samaritans
and Michigan Wolverine fans.
If someone would’ve asked Jesus to define “poor, needy, and
oppressed,” how do you think he would’ve defined it? Do you think he would’ve
defined it the way we define it, or do you think he would’ve defined it
differently? Although no one actually asked Jesus this question, I will take a
look at a passage of the Bible which points to the definition I believe Jesus
used when he discussed serving the poor, needy, and oppressed.
Who Are the Poor, Needy, and Oppressed?
When we think of poor, needy, or oppressed people, we
typically think of homeless people, people in Africa with no food or water, or
people who are being trafficked as slaves. Certainly these people are poor,
needy, and/or oppressed. There’s no doubt about that. But if Jesus was to answer
this question, I think he’d approach the question from a different angle than
we approach it.
A couple years ago, a group of my friends formed a team for
a day-long service project in Findlay called Backyard Mission Trip. Throughout
the day, we worked on projects for two different local homeowners. The first
homeowner was an elderly widow who lived by herself and struggled to get
around. The second homeowner was also an elderly widow, but she was much more
mobile and had two of her grandkids living with her. While recapping the day, one
of my friends said he really liked helping the first homeowner because it
seemed like she really needed the help. But he didn’t like helping the second
homeowner because it seemed like she really didn’t need the help, not to
mention that her two grandkids sat there all day watching TV while we did all
the work.
A few months later, I was chatting with a friend about volunteering
at Habitat for Humanity and he proceeded to tell me about an experience he had with
Habitat during college. He said he was volunteering his time one Saturday to
help build a Habitat home in his college town when the homeowner drove up in a
really nice vehicle, much nicer than the vehicle my friend owned. You can
imagine how my friend felt; he had volunteered because he wanted to help people
less fortunate than him, not people who had it better than him.
I share these stories to demonstrate a common mentality we,
as Americans, have towards helping poor, needy, and oppressed people. None of
us want to be thought of as poor, needy, or oppressed since that’s not the
American sign of success, but we’re willing to help poor, needy, and oppressed
people by giving a little of our money, time, and energy to help them. There’s
nothing wrong with wanting to serve people, but doesn’t our attitude convey
quite a bit of arrogance? We’re basically saying, “I want to help you but I
won’t allow you to help me.” We’ll give our money or volunteer our time if we
think it’s being used to feed homeless people, but we won’t offer to help our
neighbors across the street, our friends, or our families. This isn’t the way
Jesus approached people at all.
Jesus approached everyone with loving compassion, regardless
of their apparent needs. He approached the rich young ruler the same way he
approached people in desperate situations: he had compassion on them. He
recognized that they were “harassed and helpless like sheep without a
shepherd.”[3]
His final message to the church came in the book of
Revelation. At the beginning of the book, Jesus delivered individualized messages
to the church in seven different cities. One such message was delivered to the
church in Laodicia which is located in modern-day Turkey. At the time of this
writing, the city of Laodicea was the wealthiest in the region and was known
for its banking, wool, and medicine industries. In an outward sense, the people
appeared to be very well off. As he said, “For you say, I am rich, I have
prospered, and I need nothing...”[4]
Does that statement sound familiar? It sounds like something Americans would
say. We thrive on the ideal of achieving wealth and autonomy, reaching a point
where we are completely self-sufficient and don’t need anything from anyone.
Meanwhile, here’s how Jesus finished his sentence: “not
realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”[5]
How could Jesus say that about them? They weren’t poor; all of their basic
needs were met. They weren’t blind; they could all see clearly with their eyes.
They weren’t naked; they were all well-clothed. They weren’t terrible people;
they were probably all pretty good citizens. Jesus wasn’t claiming that they
were physically wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked; he was claiming
that they were spiritually wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Physically they had it all together, but spiritually, they were bankrupt.
Based on this knowledge, how do you think Jesus would
respond if someone was to pose our question to him today, “Who are the poor, needy,
and oppressed?” Do you think he would define these people as the physically
poor, needy, and oppressed? I don’t think so. I think he’d define these people
as those who are spiritually poor, needy, and oppressed.
How Does This Definition Impact Us?
Understanding what the biblical writers meant when they
talked about poor, needy, and oppressed people has completely changed the way I
approach life. First, as an average American who sought to achieve great
success in life, I spent many years striving to become completely
self-sufficient. I never believed I was poor, needy, or oppressed. Yet, God has
shown me that I fit all of those categories. I was (and still am to some
degree) spiritually poor, spiritually needy, and spiritually oppressed. I was
spiritually dead, but God has raised me to life in Jesus. I was spiritually
oppressed by the devil, but God has set me free from it and continues to set me
more and more free every day. And I am still spiritually needy in that I need
God’s love, grace, and strength to make it through every day of my life. I
hoped I would never have to say this and now here I am saying it: I’m a needy
person.
Second, to one degree or another, everyone is spiritually
poor, needy, and oppressed. Recognizing my own condition allows me to feel love
and compassion for all the people around me. I no longer discriminate against
serving certain people based upon whether I think they fit into my man-made
categories, but choose to serve people every single day regardless of their
physical condition.
–
Before reading this article, what was the definition you
thought Jesus had of poor, needy, and oppressed people? Now that you’ve read
this article, have your thoughts on it changed? Or do you think my claim is way
off base? How does this definition of poor, needy, and oppressed people impact
you and the way you live?
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