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Business at hand, not business ahead'

14/06/2009 00:00:00 PASTOR DAN MDLULI

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With the excitement over the fulfilment of end time prophecies as a pointer to the nearness of Jesus’ return, the temptation Christians should strive to overcome is that of being too conscious about the event and forgetting about the Person the event is about.

The Pharisee and the Levite succumbed to the temptation of majoring in minors when they became too conscious about the business ahead to the neglect of the business at hand. They forgot that their business and ministry inside the Synagogue ought to be a culmination of their business and ministry that took place outside the structure for worship.

Their rush to participate in the activities of God within the Synagogue became meaningless the moment they avoided the man robbers left for dead outside church. Since the death of Jesus on the cross has made all believers belong to a holy priesthood (1 Pt. 2:5), and that in the work of ministry there is neither ‘male nor female’ (Gal. 3:28), everyone must participate in saving lives.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk. 10:30ff) is a timeless reminder for the saints to maintain a healthy balance between the already and the not yet. Religious extremism has always created a fanaticism that has impacted negatively on the gospel of Jesus Christ. A religion that is not sensitive to human suffering is a contradiction to the gospel of Jesus Christ (Jas. 1:27), and a neglect of people in distress is a behaviour that borders on hypocrisy and fanaticism.

Such tendencies often result in an imbalance between salt and herald models in so far as the spreading of the good news is concerned. Those who herald or announce the good news to the world must act as salt does to food. Food is what people want to eat rather than salt yet it is salt that enhances taste in food.
Likewise, the gospel of Jesus Christ could be better understood if those of us who spread it assume the mindset of the Good Samaritan. Attending to the immediate needs of the wounded became paramount to the Good Samaritan than rushing for his important appointments.

It makes mockery of the Christian faith for believers to rush for services inside the church building while the sick and the needy are left unattended (Isa. 58:1ff). Someone observed that Christians roughly divide themselves into three categories; the Pharisee, the Levite, and the Good Samaritan.
The best category among the three is that which reflects the character of the Jesus Christ of the end-time prophecies. The last book of the Bible is correctly entitled. The Revelation of Jesus Christ in every prophecy contained in the book must be the major task. All the excitement about his coming must come as a result of the love we have for him.

This love should naturally result in active participation in businesses and ministries that seek to relieve the pain of those whom the enemy has left “half dead.” Jesus Christ wishes his children could take a lead in activities that make the Church truly the ‘conscience of society’.
His last address to his disciples before his crucifixion underscores the business and ministry the Church ought to engage in, and these acts of mercy characterise a true Christian (Matt.25:31ff).

Society has hordes of people who need feeding, clothing, and visitation, and it is those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty and visit the imprisoned whom Jesus saves into his kingdom. Speaking to this point, Jon Paulien says: “He (Jesus) wants them to live each day with the end in mind—He wants them to treat other people with kindness and caring concern, knowing that they will one day have to give an account of all that they have done.” Further, he says: “Christ wants them to pay careful attention to His words and to strive by their actions each day to be more and more like Him.”

Since the book of Revelation kind of summaries the whole Bible, the content and the theme of its message is Jesus Christ. Its purpose is not to arouse curiosity in its reader about prophecies but to lead to the reader to a clearer picture of the Jesus its prophecies seek to reveal.
The book argues that the Jesus Christ who will reign as Lord of lords must first reign as Lord of hearts hence his message to the last Church: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). Those whose hearts Christ has conquered immediately assume a mindset similar to that of the Good Samaritan.

Their faith is a responsible one. It is the kind of faith that is motivated by love, and this love reveals itself in acts of mercy. Unlike the Priest and the Levite, the Good Samaritan was not “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). Like Jesus, the Good Samaritan was willing to serve and bless others which makes his sacrifice all the more remarkable.
In fact, some preachers conclude that the Good Samaritan in the parable is Jesus himself who intervened to save humanity when the enemy had left us dead in trespasses.
After attending to our wounds and dressing them up with his blood, he then committed the victims of the evil one into the care of the Church with the promise to make full payment for extras when he returns.