Our Relevancy Requires Being a Ditch Watcher
In Luke 10:25-37 we read a story all of us have heard many times. It is the account known as the story of the Good Samaritan. In this parable a man falls prey to robbers. He is beaten and left in a ditch in very poor condition. Two men pass by, one a priest, the other a Levite. Each of these men passes by on the other side of the road. A third man, a Samaritan, passes by. This man stops and binds up the wounds of the man in the ditch, doing the best he can to take care of his every need. Which of these individuals represent us?
The priest and Levite represent the religious leaders of the day. These two would have been experts concerning religious matters. These two groups would have been champions of Scripture and defenders of Doctrine. They would have set the religious standards of the day. They would have determined worship patterns as well as what they considered faithful. Certainly in their eyes they were what religion was all about.
The third man, the Good Samaritan, is our pattern for today. This man was not the champion of Scripture, nor was he the defender of doctrine. In fact the religious experts would not have fellowshipped this man. Yet this man had a unique qualification that made him our pattern for today. He was a ditch watcher. He was looking for an opportunity to reach those who had lost their way. As a Samaritan he would have found himself in the ditch on multiple occasions. He knew the hardship of being a mess. He understood what it was for someone to come by and give a helping hand. He knew the meaning of having a Savior. As a result of this background he had become a ditch watcher.
If we are going to earn the right to be heard we must lose the attitude of the priest and Levite. Relevancy doesn’t need religious experts. Relevancy needs those who have once been lost and are now found. Relevancy needs Christians watching for those in a mess, those who need a Messiah. If we are going to change our image we must shift our emphasis. Instead of being religious experts splitting the hairs of Scriptural interpretation we need to become ditch watchers looking for an opportunity to share the Savior with those who are lost.
