What’s the heart of service?
Helping those in need? Doing good? Supporting worthy causes?
“I imagine that the first question the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’ The good Samaritan engaged in a dangerous altruism.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
The Samaritan took a risk by even associating with a Jew, much less bandaging his wounds and paying for extended care. His concern wasn’t for his personal safety but for that of his neighbor–a man he’d never met, a man who, by cultural standards, should have been his enemy.
In Jesus’ eyes, service is altruistic. Service involves sacrifice.
You and I likely aren’t called to be full-time missionaries or start our own non-profit charity. We don’t need to live in poverty or become some version of Mother Teresa.
We might need to have some skin in the game.
Jesus says service is our responsibility, regardless of consequences or risk. No one can do it all. We can do what’s in front of us.
For the FREEDOM TOUR, what’s in front of us is some kids at a safe house in New Delhi who have been rescued from sex trafficking. We crank our bikes together in a spirit of shared sacrifice to serve those kids, because that’s what we can do.
You can join us. It’s not easy, but altruism isn’t all about what’s easy. Sometimes it’s about stepping outside the lines and discovering what’s possible when hope replaces fear.
We tend to ask, “If I do this thing, what are the consequences for me?”
What if, like the good Samaritan, we reversed the question? “If I do not do this thing, what might be the consequences–for others and for me?”
Interesting thought, no?