Freedom

Give a kid a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a kid to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

How does one give freedom?

Let's take the parable of the Good Samaritan and expand by adding some text.

Luke 10:30-37 NASB plus additional text (quoted text in italics, additional text not in italics)


³⁰ Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.


The man had also hit his head causing mild memory loss. He forgot his skill and trade and no longer knew how to fend for himself.


³¹ And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³² Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.


Then a fundamentalist preacher came by and shouted, "How dare you be naked. Don't you know that the human body is a sin and disgusting. You deserve punishment for your immodesty." And the fundamentalist preacher went over and kicked the man while he was down shouting, "Repent. You deserve to go to Hell unless you repent."


Then a liberal hedonist came by and saw the fundamentalist preacher. The hedonist shouted, "He has a right to be naked if he wants to be. How dare you judge him. If he chooses to lie here in his own blood, vomit and excrement, that is his choice and he has the FREEDOM to do so. I will defend his right to wallow in filth. I'll even give him money so he may continue to live in filth as he so chooses.


Then a welfare control freak came along and while the fundamentalist and the hedonist were arguing, welfare took the man and dressed him up like a dolly. Welfare tied the man into a wheelchair and put a gag in his mouth to keep him quiet. Then welfare paraded the man around announcing boldly, "Everyone come and look. Come and see what a good person I am. I have taken this poor, fallen man and I have dressed him up. Pat me on the back. Praise me and give me money congratulating me for being so awesomely kind to the underprivileged. This poor, fallen man will be my poster child for eternity announcing to the world what a kind and generous person I have been to him."


The fundamentalist saw this and shouted at welfare, "He should be punished. He doesn't deserve kindness." The hedonist saw this and shouted at welfare, "Why did you dress him? You are violating his right to be naked. Strip him now." The three got into a fight and in the fight, the helpless man had his clothes ripped off of him again but at least his bindings were ripped off as well. So the helpless man crawled away to die from internal bleeding. The three continued to fight but the fight moved away from him.


³³ But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him


But the man was afraid of the Samaritan after what the other three had put him through. He resisted receiving help from the Samaritan. He cried, "I didn't choose this. Don't punish me. Leave me alone so I may do as I choose."


But the Samaritan was wise and said, "Sh, it's okay. I know you didn't choose this. But you need to face the truth that regardless of how you got in this condition, you are in no condition to get yourself out. You are in no condition to choose so let me help you develop the skill you need to be able to choose."


The Samaritan brought out some clothes to cover the man's nakedness. But the man resisted crying, "Don't dress me up like your little dolly. Don't humiliate me by making me your poster child. Don't parade me around so you can show off how much better you are than I am."


The Samaritan responded, "I will not dress you up like a dolly. These are my finest clothes I am giving you. I am dressing you up like a king. I am giving you nobility so that when you have recovered, you may go free. You will not be bound to me. You are not obligated to me. You don't owe me anything."


The Samaritan dressed the man in his finest clothes


and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’


Moreover, I will pay you to teach him to fish or to do some other trade so that he may eat for a lifetime.


³⁶Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” ³⁷ And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”