Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 11
June 4, 1959
NUMBER 5, PAGE 11b

"The Parable Of The Modern Samaritan"

John H. Tull, Grand Prairie, Texas

A certain man came down from Nashville to Dallas, and fell among thieves which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance, there came down a certain preacher that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side, for he was rushing to a certain place to preach a trial sermon and mustn't be late, you know.

And likewise a bishop, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. He had an appointment to meet with some more bishops to discuss a brotherhood radio program.

But a certain benevolent soul, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and said, "Here is a good work. I will see what I can do for this man."

Whereupon he journeyed to the neighboring town, and inquired for the treasurer of the church. Having searched diligently for him, and not finding him anywhere, he journeyed further toward the next town:

And finding the treasurer of that church, he told him of the wounded man. Whereupon the treasurer said, "I am deeply touched by your tale of woe, but we cannot help you. We are in the process of building a new church building, and need every cent we can get. It is only costing us $300,000.00, and we consider that a bargain, for it includes a kitchen, fellowship hall, and game room."

On hearing this, the benevolent soul said, "I don't know who I can get to do this work. Someone needs to. The poor man is dying. I can't dig down in my own pocket and help him. True, my wife and I both work, but we are saving for a college education for our children. We have to pay this ourselves, because a few 'cranks' won't let the church treasury support the college. I know what I'll do: I'll go across town to congregation 'B'. A church needs to do this work, so that the church can get the glory."

The treasurer answered, "Oh, no! Don't go there, for they are 'antis'. They don't believe in helping orphans or doing mission work. They would let a man die in the ditch before they would help him, unless he were a member of their congregation."

Whereupon, the benevolent soul returned to the wounded man, and verily, the man was now dead! The benevolent soul looked up toward heaven and prayed, "Lord, I thank thee that I am not as those cold-hearted `antis' are, who so ruthlessly let this man die here. What manner of people would do such a thing as that? Lord, thou knowest that I have done my part."