Why Do You Call Me Good?

Some people think I am a real person. It is a good bet that I am simply a character in a story – a parable – designed to enlighten the minds of listeners. My name is unknown. I was never worthy of one. You call me the “Good Samaritan.” Another person said, “The one who showed him mercy.”

Good Neighbors

Why do you call me that, anyway? You know. I am labeled as the “Good Samaritan.” Jesus never calls me that. To him, I am “a Samaritan.” The pronoun usage says I am male. And that is all. You, dear reader, call me something Jesus never does. I am not even described that way by the scribe seeking to justify himself. He will not even use the S-word. Using the G-word to describe me was out of the question.

Unintentionally Inverting The Story

Let me make a subtle point to you. By calling me the G-word, you unintentionally destroyed the point. Jesus asks the scribe, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”

Jesus did not tell the scribe the Samaritan was his neighbor. No, he asks him to conclude who was being a neighbor. What happens here is neither the priest nor the Levite (people who were not very popular with the scribes either) act as a neighbor to the man laying on the side of the road. Only the Samaritan does. Yes, I know, a good person acts the way I did. But, for all any of us know, I may not be a good person otherwise. It is possible I never returned and therefore stiffed the innkeeper of money due him for the care of the stranger.

The subtle point is this. By calling me good, you let yourselves off the hook.

A Good One

A Samaritan woman demanded to know why Jesus asked her for a drink of water. She was not what anyone would call neighborly. Yet, after a while, you think of her as a good Samaritan too. The people of her town who come to listen to Jesus become good in your minds as well. Ezra and Nehemiah taught you Samaritans were somehow heretical and not pure Israelites. Because of this, you share the scribes attitude. However, you soften it a little.

You do not think all Samaritans are bad. You believe there are a few good ones. And you extend this attitude to other people as well. Many people who oppose having LGBTQ people out and open in their communities, grudgingly admit they know a few “good gays.” They may be the generous lesbian couple next door. The good one may be a family member who would never do what we are told the rest of them do. A lot of people share this same attitude about other people they have little experience knowing.

Let me ask you something. Why do you not reason the good ones are the example of them all? My guess it is merely bigotry and prejudice. You allowed yourselves wiggle room to keep a prejudicial position not in your experience.

Reading Carefully

Read the story Jesus told about a merciful Samaritan. Know again the response, “Go and do likewise.” Become the neighbor to the people you decided to detest “except for the good ones.” Read and show care for the neighbor in need.