As Americans emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, they find themselves divided and in need.

The divisions are deep and obvious. People often see themselves in adversarial terms: red vs. blue, conservative vs. liberal. Social media algorithms deepen the divisions by creating an online bubble where users encounter only people like them with opinions like theirs.

And the needs are great. After a year of social distancing, many feel isolated and alone. Some lost loved ones and experienced overwhelming grief. Others lost their jobs and struggle to regain an economic foothold.

As Spirit-filled Christians, how should we respond to these divisions and needs? The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37) provides the answer. It shows what can happen when we love our neighbors by crossing the divide and meeting their needs.

Neighborliness

When a lawyer asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life, Jesus turned the question back on him: “What is written in the Law? … How do you read it?”

The lawyer responded with Scripture: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (verse 27, cf. Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 6:5).

The legal expert wasn’t finished, however. He asked, “And who is my neighbor?” (verse 29).

Jesus answered with a parable, set on a real-life road between Jerusalem and Jericho. This winding path declines 3,000 feet in 17 miles. Pilgrims traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem used the road, but so did bandits, who attacked travelers from the many dark corners and sharp turns.

In the parable, bandits preyed on a Jewish man. They beat him, robbed him, and left him for dead on the side of the road. A priest and Levite saw the victim but passed by on the other side (verses 31–32). Yet a Samaritan acted with compassion. Not only did he administer first aid, but the Samaritan also provided for the injured man’s long-term care and recovery (verses 34–35). That is why we call him a good Samaritan.

Jews in Jesus’ day did not consider Samaritans good, however. Second Kings 17:24–40 reveals the origins of the Samaritans. They descended from Gentile groups the Assyrians forcibly resettled in Israel after conquering the Northern Kingdom. Samaritans practiced a religion that mixed biblical teachings and pagan beliefs. As far as Jews were concerned, Samaritans were foreign invaders and heathens — the opposite of good!

That is what makes Jesus’ parable so startling. Jesus defines neighborliness in terms of compassion, not in terms of ethnic or religious similarity. In other words, a neighbor is a person who crosses deep divides and meets great needs.

So, when Jesus says, “Go and do likewise” (verse 37), Christians have their marching orders.

People of Compassion

According to our Fellowship’s governing documents, our “priority reason for being” has four elements: evangelism, worship, discipleship and compassion. Regarding compassion, we are called to “demonstrate God’s love and compassion for all the world.” Crossing divides to meet needs is a hallmark of our Pentecostal faith.

But these four elements, while distinct, are also inseparable. The Assemblies of God = evangelism + worship + discipleship + compassion. These things go together.

How, specifically, does compassion relate to evangelism, worship, and discipleship? Compassion is the context for our evangelism, the test of our worship, and the fruit of our discipleship.

Jesus defines neighborliness in terms of compassion, not in terms of ethnic or religious similarity.

1. The context of evangelism. The text of evangelism is what we say to nonbelievers about Jesus, calling them to repentance and faith in Him. However, the context of evangelism is what we do. Our good works prepare nonbelievers to receive the gospel.

Jesus himself connected compassion and evangelism: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Similarly, Peter wrote, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Nonbelievers today are less interested in whether Christianity is true than whether it is good. Obviously, Christianity is both. But in a divided, needy country, we must practice an apologetic of good works, not just an apologetic of good ideas. As the saying goes, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

2. The test of worship. Jesus contrasted the Samaritan with a priest and a Levite. The law of Moses declared that anyone who touched a dead body was unclean (Leviticus 5:2–6). Priests especially had to avoid contact with dead bodies (Leviticus 21:1–4). Levites, who served alongside priests at the Temple, also had to be ceremonially clean. This probably explains why the priest and Levite passed by the victim on the Jericho road; he appeared “half dead” (verse 30).

But the priest, and presumably the Levite, was going “down” from Jerusalem to Jericho (verse 31). In other words, they had finished their temple work and were headed home. They used the ceremonial law as an excuse for disobedience to the moral law. Like the Old Testament prophets, however, Jesus prioritized the moral over the ceremonial. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” Jesus said in Matthew 12:7, quoting Hosea 6:6.

Because the Lord is “the compassionate and gracious God” (Exodus 34:6), the test of authentic worship is whether our character is becoming more like His. Without love, our worship — even if it is characterized by tongues and prophecy — amounts to nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1–3).

3. The fruit of discipleship. The Great Commission is a mandate from Jesus to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Part of that mandate is “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (verse 20). If we teach disciples correctly, they will become compassionate people because compassion is one of the things Christ commanded.

Consider just three of Jesus’ commandments in Luke’s Gospel:

• “Be generous to the poor” (11:41).

• “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” (12:33).

• “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed” (14:13–14).

Notice how the Early Church obeyed Jesus’ commands in the Book of Acts:

• “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (2:45).

• “And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (4:33–35).

• “After an absence of several years, I [Paul] came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings” (24:17, cf. Galatians 2:10).

These are just six passages among hundreds like them in the New Testament. Moreover, compassion responds to all kinds of human need, not just material poverty. Nevertheless, the point is clear: Disciples of Jesus Christ are compassionate people. Pentecostals must be Good Samaritans.

A divided, needy country needs a compassionate Church. So, as Jesus commanded and the Spirit empowers, let us go and do likewise!

This article appears in the Summer 2021 edition of Influence magazine.