Good Samaritan Christian

But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?  And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed leaving him half dead.  And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.  Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell, among the thieves?  And he said, He that showed mercy on him, Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.  Luke, Chapter 10, verses 29-37.

It makes me think of all the people that need help on the side of the road that I ignore.  I have a dilemma.  It isn’t very safe to be picking up people by the side of the road these days, but I bet there are things I can do to help anyway.  I could probably ask them if they need me to call a tow truck or something.  That might be risky too.  What I have been doing is using my cell phone, at times, to call the highway patrol to tell them the approximate location of the broken down car.  I know it’s not as big an effort as the Samaritan made, but I think we all need to start someplace.  I get too caught up in my own little world and tend to ignore the things that make me uncomfortable or that I really don’t want to deal with. As a Good Samaritan Christian, I need to be more sensitive to the needs of others, being an example on a regular basis of how God works in my life.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

American Graffiti Christian

For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My Words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own Glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.  Luke, Chapter 9, verse 26.

This relates to a situation that made a major difference in my relationship with God.  One time, I was doing something that was an outward sign of my faith.  It was in a place where other people could see what I was doing and would have known I am a Christian.  I’m ashamed to say that this had made me really uncomfortable.
The thought in my mind shortly after this was about the movie “American Graffiti”.  One of the main characters had been in charge of keeping an eye on a young pre-teen or teenage girl.  He had a reputation of being “cool” and didn’t like being a glorified babysitter.  Later, he and the young lady got to know each other better and became friends.  Then there was a point in the movie where he was driving down the main drag and he saw a group of his friends.  He realized that they would see him with this young girl and it could hurt his “cool image” if they knew he was babysitting.  So he asked his new found friend to duck down in the seat so his other friends wouldn’t see her sitting in his car, thus maintaining his reputation.
Well, that’s what I was doing with God.  I was saying to God, “You are really important to me and I love you a lot, but I don’t want other people to know how important You are to me.  I want to look ‘cool’ to others and don’t want them to think I’m a religious fanatic.  So, God, please duck down so they don’t know I’m a Christian.”
As an American Graffiti Christian, this movie impacted my life and my relationship with God because it helped me realize that I used to shy away from mentioning anything about God or my faith to anyone.  I can’t say it’s all that easy for me now, because I’m still very weak and have a hard time risking ridicule from others.  I do try to say things like, “Boy, God was really looking after you,” when there was a miracle in someone’s life that they may have overlooked.
When I do this, I’m generally anxious because I never know how anyone is going to respond to these statements.  I’m always afraid that they are going to think I’m a fanatic and shy away from me, but I have never received that response from anyone.  In fact, people have been very appreciative and it has opened up opportunities for the other person to share their perspective of how God has influenced their life.  I need to continue to focus on being more willing to take risks for God.  I would never want Him to turn His back on me the way I have done to Him.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Keep Up With the Jones's Christians

And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?  Luke, Chapter 9, verses 23-25.

I think God is telling us that we have to be totally dedicated to Him.  It’s all too easy to get caught up in our daily lives and focus on getting ahead in the world.  It’s especially difficult since there is so much pressure to try to keep up with the Jones’s that we might lose sight of our goal.  To paraphrase what Jesus said, “What good is it to have all these worldly things and lose your Salvation in the process?  If those Keep Up With the Jones's Christians change their ways and are willing to give up everything, including their worldly lives for Me, they will have eternal life in Heaven.”

Here are some related passages:
*He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.  Matthew, Chapter 10, verses 37-38.
*Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  For the Son of Man shall come in the Glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.  Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 24-27.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Ulterior Motives Christians

Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.  But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the storm did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.  Luke, Chapter 6, verses 47-49.

I need to make sure that my faith in God has a firm foundation like the house built on rock, because my faith has to withstand all the human temptations that arise.  Some of those temptations are very subtle and can let little things into our lives that seem very minor but still shake our foundation.  Food has always been one of my bigger vices.
My younger brother was always very giving.  I’m ashamed to say that I took advantage of him when he wasn’t even in school yet.  Being the youngest and the only boy in the family, he had a piggy bank full of money.  When my parents weren’t around, I talked him into breaking into his piggy bank to get all his money out to take with us to the movies.  Being the generous person that he is, he shared all his money with his older sister.  I bought ice cream after ice cream, followed by enough candy bars to make a person sick.  He had trusted me, but my ulterior motives interfered with being an example of my faith.  Like I said, we have to be careful about the subtle things in life that sneak in and shake our foundation on rock.  As Ulterior Motive Christians, something very minor could cause that foundation to crumble!

Here is a related passage:
*Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine.  Matthew, Chapter 7, verses 24-28.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.