Effective Christianity

A brief parable, courtesy of the celebrant at this morning's Mass:

Smith, walking along through the evening gloom failed to notice a large, deep hole in his path, and fell into it, spraining an ankle as he landed. After a moment's confusion, he staggered upright, wincing at the pain from his injury. He looked around, saw no handholds, and concluded that he had no chance of getting out of the pit without assistance from above. Accordingly, he began yelling for help, hoping that a passerby would come to his rescue.

The first person to hear and heed him was a physician he knew well. "My good man, whatever has happened to you?" Dr. Jones asked.

"I was inattentive, Doctor, and fell into this pit," our hero said. "I've sprained an ankle and can't get out."

"Tsk, tsk," Dr. Jones replied. He pulled a pad of prescription slips from his jacket pocket, scribbled briefly on one, and tossed it to Smith. "That's for the pain. When you get out, call my office and make an appointment to see me this coming week." And with that, Dr. Jones sauntered away.

Smith went back to screaming for help. The next passerby to peer down at him was a prominent local lawyer, Lawyer Black. "Good grief, Smith, what has happened to you?"

Smith said, "Well, I fell into this pit for lack of attention, and it appears I've sprained my ankle into the bargain." To which Lawyer Black responded by pulling a business card from his jacket, tossing it down to Smith, and saying "Call me when you get out and we'll sue the city for a bundle." And with that, Lawyer Black sauntered away.

Shaken but undaunted, Smith returned to screaming for help. And in time, a third passerby peers down at him: his parish pastor, Father White. "Good heavens, Smith, what has befallen you?"

Smith replied "I've fallen into this pit, Father, and I can't get out on my own, but so far no one has offered me any assistance." He looked up hopefully at the priest, and his hopes surged as Father White reached a hand down into the pit.

But as Smith took the cleric's hand, Father White merely shook and released it, said "I'll pray for you," and sauntered off.

Is this effective Christianity?

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We Christians are big on platitudes and portentous maxims. We tend to be less handy with the sort of help that others truly need -- and no, I'm not talking about donating to this charity or that one; that's conscience-salving-by-check, and close to completely ineffective as lasting help.

There are persons who "need" material help, of course, just as Smith needs some sort of assistance in getting out of that pit. But material need is often -- in our nation at this time, perhaps more often than not -- a symptom of a larger and more threatening deficit.

Man lives in time -- God's least easily recognized creation -- specifically because time gives rise to cause and effect. Under a regime of unchanging natural law, cause and effect compel us to learn. The overarching rule of the temporal universe, as it applies to human life, is succinctly stated:

Live and learn.
Won't learn? Won't live.

This is also the rule of the supra-temporal realm to which every man's soul is destined to return.

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Christianity's mythos -- the technical terminology in religious studies for its specific theology -- is seldom properly connected to its ethos -- its practical implications. It's possible to be the most fervent believer in the mythos while giving the ethos no attention whatsoever. Such a person is unlikely to have the admiration and respect of those around him. Nor is he likely to win God's favor.

Christ laid the foundation of the ethos when He enunciated the Second Great Commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Inasmuch as a neighbor is "one who has come near," the commandment amounts to treating those with whom one comes into contact as you would prefer to be treated yourself: a restatement of the Golden Rule Christ proclaimed during the Sermon on the Mount.

It is in Man's nature to want to be self-sufficient: that is, not to need assistance in practical matters. That this is impossible in a wide range of circumstances has no bearing on the desire. In the parable above, when Smith realized he'd fallen into a pit, his first inclination was to help himself. Only when he'd concluded that he could not escape on his own did he begin to clamor for help from others.

A "traditional" Good Samaritan-like ending to the parable would have some passerby Smith has never met before reach down and hoist him out of the pit. But that's certainly not the one that best illuminates effective Christian outreach. I prefer this one, instead:

In time, another passerby, a man unknown to Smith, was attracted by Smith's cries. This fourth man looked briefly down into the pit, nodded, and jumped in beside Smith.

Smith was incredulous. "Why did you do that? Now we're both stuck down here!"

The newcomer smiled and shook his head. "Not at all. You see, I'm a municipal construction worker. My work has me in and around pits like this one all the time. Yes, I could have hauled you out from above. You would have thanked me and walked away, and thought nothing more about it. You would have been no better off than you were before you fell in here. But your life won't end once you're out of this hole. You very well might fall into it, or a similar one, at some time in the future, when no one else is around. Wouldn't you prefer that I show you how to get out by yourself?"

May God bless and keep you all.