THE GREAT DISCONNECT

Luke 10:30-37
30 Jesus said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite . . . passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan . . . came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds . . . 36 Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" 37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

"Hello." The call began innocently enough. But a moment later, I found myself privy to a conversation in which I had no part: "I was sitting in the bathroom when you called earlier," said the voice on the phone.

Casually shuffling through shirts, I was in the department store when the woman next to me answered her cell phone. She quickly retorted, "Sshhh! You're on speaker-phone" while leaning closer to the phone as if to will it to privacy.

An hour later, I was still laughing. Yet it reminded me how our desire to be connected through technology has driven us to the place of disconnect.

Don't get me wrong--I enjoy my cell phone. I can be available almost anytime or anyplace. And if I don't feel like being reached, my phone has this handy "ignore" button. With the slightest of pressure I can restore the silence while my voice-mail politely assures the caller that I will return the call.

How often, though, do I hit the "ignore" button to my everyday world? Gabbing on the phone to my sister as I'm in the store, I watch but don't see the people who walk past me. I'm too busy being connected. Always accessible, yet absolutely disconnected to those nearby.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus vividly portrayed the commandment to connect--to love the Lord our God with all that we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we are too disconnected to engage with those we pass by while doing the most ordinary of tasks, could we be like the priest and the Levite who "passed by"?

The problem is not technology. The problem exists within our hearts. The answer lies in the response of the Samaritan who felt compassion when he came upon the beaten man (Luke 10:33).

We live in speaker-phone mode and the Great Commission is a call to connect. Are we moved with compassion, or do those around us find themselves privy to a conversation in which they aren't welcomed? --Regina Franklin

DESTINATION POINTS

• When was the last time I really stopped to look at the faces of those I pass by as I go about my day?
• What must I be willing to do to connect with those God brings across my path?

LINKS:
The Compassion of Jesus
http://www.discoveryseries.org/q0208

bottom line: The Great Commission requires compassion.

soul journey