Standers-by

When you see someone in trouble, do you stop to help or walk past, assuming that somebody else will do it?  Would you want passers-by to provide assistance if the person in trouble was your child?

NBC recently staged a child-abduction on the streets of New York City to see how many people would get involved when they encountered a seven year old girl pulling away from a man, yelling for help, “You’re not my daddy.”  It took hours of repeating the scenario before someone responded and came to her aid.

Earlier this month, in the Guangdong province of China, a two-year-old girl was run over in a marketplace.  Eighteen people walked or cycled past before someone responded to her need.

In both cases, we’re quick to condemn those who did not intervene, but must consider whether we have looked the other way when we know we should have done something.

When asked what one must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded that we must love God and love our neighbors.  He illustrated what it means to be a ‘neighbor’ in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).  Both a priest and a Levite observed but passed by the man who had been beaten and robbed instead of providing assistance; they chose the role of bystander, while the Samaritan got involved.

bystander –
a person present but not involved; onlooker; spectator

What if Jesus had taken the role of the bystander:  present, but uninvolved.  What if he saw our need and, though fully capable of meeting it, fancied Himself too important or too busy to do anything, and assumed that someone else would take responsibility for both our physical and spiritual conditions?

• Bartimaeus would have spent the rest of his days in blinded darkness. (Mark 10)
• Jairus would have outlived his young daughter.  (Mark 5)
• The leper may never have enjoyed human contact again. (Matthew 8)
• The paralytic would not have walked home. (Luke 5)

And you and I would remain dead in our transgressions.  (Ephesians 2)

Shudder.

We are called to be more than bystanders to those around us because of our relationship with Him.  We are meant to be His hands and feet on this earth.  God gave us the ability and privilege of helping others – His children, people made in His image.  In His calling on Abram’s life, God said He would bless Abram, and that Abram, in turn, was to be a blessing. (Genesis 12)

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  –James 2:15-17 NIV

Instead of being bystanders, let us become standers-by:

stand-by –
a person or thing that is ready for use or can be relied on in an emergency; in a state of readiness to act, respond, or be used immediately when needed.

We don’t have the power to forgive sin or change spiritual conditions; that’s God’s work.  But we can stand at-the-ready to be His agent in the world.  When God puts another’s need in our path, we are, in most cases, capable of doing something – no matter how small.

Doing something is doing the right thing.  It may or may not be life-saving, but it will be life-giving.

For further consideration:
Why does God urge us to get involved in another’s distress?

 – It shows our love for Him and wins others to Christ.
 – It is a way of loving God Himself.
 – It reminds us of our need for Him, in practical and eternal ways.

What would you add to that list?