Sometimes effective ministry means you need to fix the road …

For the church generally, and every Christian individually, the story of the Good Samaritan recorded in Luke 10:30-37 is a powerfully convicting one.

It’s a tragic story of not caring about someone in obvious, urgent need.

This passage of scripture so poignantly reveals how even the most religious neglect those most in need, and how the most unexpected can put to shame the behavior of religious people, even including some in leadership.

But in all the sermons, lessons, and writings on this passage of scripture, there’s a lesson I’ve yet to hear unfolded. We usually focus on how different persons walked by the man beaten half to death and left by the side of a road. Yet, what I haven’t heard proffered is this:

The need to fix the road.

This story is about a fellow who was robbed and beaten when traveling a dangerous stretch of road. He wasn’t the first to be robbed along that road, nor the last. An overarching problem was the persistent danger of that section of road!

Yes, there are great lessons about our needing to see people in need, and to respond by caring for their needs. But that isn’t where the ministry should end. If the road isn’t fixed, more will be beaten and left for dead.

Imagine the improvement if you fixed the road!

So often, the way churches and Christians minister today is narrowly, person-by-person, completely ignoring the bigger picture of a need to fix dangerous roads. We need to learn to not only care about — and serve the needs of — the person in need, but also looking at persistent pathways of danger and do what we can to “fix those roads” so that others will not be harmed.

Scotty