Jesus expected His followers to care for others, and to do what they could to help them. He did NOT expect them to remain callous, indifferent, and focused solely on themselves. Claiming that ‘I am not on anyone’s side—I am just on God’s side’ [doesn’t] cut it.

If there is one theme that arises in my writings so very often it is this: I am continuously coming across Christians who seem to have little mental and moral clarity. They can say some of the most unhelpful and foolish things on all sorts of issues.

During the past few years that has certainly been the case with Israel and the conflict in Gaza. I have written often on these matters. Here I want to focus on a remark someone had made on this. A person I knew on the social media once said this about the situation in the Middle East: “I’m personally not pro the state of Israel myself. I’m not pro any place. All Nations have fallen. The Lord is the only one we can trust.”

Hmm, what should we make of this? Is God the only one we can fully trust? Of course—that goes without saying. Are all nations and all leaders and all people fallen? Of course, once again. But does that mean that the Christian either ignores every conflict found on planet earth, or pretends that one can just live in some “neutral” no-man’s land when it comes to them?

To show where this sort of ‘thinking’ falls down, simply change the conflict around a bit. Instead of the beleaguered nation of Israel completely surrounded by numerous nations that have waged war against it and have sworn to see it wiped off the map, consider a more local situation.

Suppose you and your husband are walking along and you come upon a disturbing scene: a ten-year-old girl is being viciously heckled, spat on, and beaten by three ten-year-old boys. I would think that any person with a brain and a conscience—certainly those who claim to be Christians—would not just keep walking by.

They would not just ignore those thugs and their deplorable attack on that defenceless young girl. They would NOT say to themselves: ‘I’m personally not pro that girl myself. I’m not pro anyone. All people have fallen. The Lord is the only one we can trust.’

That shows how foolish and morally bankrupt such a position really is. Just as we cannot remain “neutral” in regard to international conflicts, we cannot remain neutral to various conflicts much closer to home—even in our own neighbourhood.

Sure, for various reasons we cannot get involved with every conflict we encounter. Suppose the three boys were three quite strong men, maybe even with weapons. While the husband and wife likely could not physically do much by way of intervention—they might even be injured or killed themselves—they should care about this situation and not just quickly walk away.

At the very least they should try to monitor the situation from a safe distance while they immediately call the police, imploring them to come quickly. That is what any thinking and caring person would do. They would not just glibly talk about being on no one’s side, or just saying that God will sort it out.

It is, in other words, the parable of the Good Samaritan all over again. The wrong response is thinking that what is happening to others is none of my business, and that I will simply refuse to get involved. That attitude and action is the very thing Jesus so strongly condemned.

He expected his followers to care for others, and to do what they could to help them. He did NOT expect them to remain callous, indifferent, and focused solely on themselves. Claiming that ‘I am not on anyone’s side—I am just on God’ side’ would just not cut it.

Indeed, consider the words we find just before Jesus told the parable to his listeners. In Luke 10:25-29 we find this:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

It is at this point that Jesus teaches about what Christian love in action really looks like—thus the parable as found in verses 30-37. And he closes his words on this by reinforcing what he expects of his followers: “‘Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You go, and do likewise.’”

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