The Church of Jesus is called to emulate and embody the love of Jesus, showing radical compassion to those who are marginalized, destitute, and overwhelmed by suffering. While orthodoxy is important, the way of Jesus encompasses more than this. The way of Jesus is a fusion of orthodoxy with both orthopathos and orthopraxis, resulting in a bias towards the victims of domination and oppression. This cruciform authenticity emerges when our 'right thinking' about God is intimately connected to the desires and inclinations of our hearts and rooted in compassionate actions that represent the sovereign rule and reign of the Father's kingdom.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we witness this dynamic in action as it exemplifies what it means to live out our confession of loving the Lord with our heart, mind, and soul and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The Good Samaritan embodies a value system that contrasts sharply with that of the Priest and the Levite. Filled with compassion, he generously offers his time, resources, and even his reputation to help the man whom others, for various reasons, chose to ignore.
The Good Samaritan, providing a model for contemporary missiology, allows his day to be interrupted by the stark reality of suffering he encounters. He not only crosses the road but also transcends the social norms and boundaries of his time to treat the outsider as a friend and kin. This loving neighbor demonstrates a radical, costly, and risky love—a love that takes tangible form without expecting anything in return. This is the way—the head, the heart, and the hands—of the Kingdom.
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