was recently leading out in an afternoon program with a group of church young people, in the course of which I asked the young people to act out in groups a practical expression of one of the Beatitudes. Despite my assigning different verses within the Beatitudes to the respective groups, four of the five groups acted out stories loosely adapted from that of the parable of the good Samaritan, mostly involving helping people with vehicles broken down on the roadside. These impromptu adaptations were creative and done with the best of intentions; but as an expression of the particular Beatitudes-and of our Christian responsibility-they were somewhat misguided.

Without doubt, the good Samaritan is a powerful story and a worthy example of Christian good works. However, there comes a point when the good Samaritan is not good enough.

First-on a personal level-we need to extend our influence beyond the random and the opportunistic. If the practical expressions of our Christianity are limited to good Samaritan-type instances, we may have extended periods in our lives when we do not see people broken down on the side of the road on our way to work or school. We run the risk of our good intentions being frustrated by an occasional lack of obvious "victims" in our immediate neighborhoods-or, for many of us, a lack of mechanical or other practical knowledge.

Rather, there are intentional and practical decisions we can take to live lives more truly in harmony with the Beatitudes and the rest of the Bible's teachings on the Christian's social responsibilities. It happens at a deeper level than trying to become something we are not or just briefly giving assistance to those we stumble across. The profound goodness at the heart of Jesus' teachings should pervade all aspects of our lives: how we treat others, how we live, where we live, what careers we choose, how we spend our money, what car we drive, how we relate to our communities, and how we react to the big issues in our world. These are not just random reactions to unfortunates with whom we come into contact.

The second point at which the example of the good Samaritan may fall short of the impact Christianity should be making in our world is at the systemic level. In many parts of the world, the political, economic, social, and cultural systems are inflicting heartbreaking misery on people-almost invariably on the poorest and those least able to speak out for themselves. The appropriate Christian response to such systemic oppression is a part of what Jesus refers to as "the important things of the law-justice, mercy, and faith."¹

But it seems Christians often do not feel comfortable addressing such issues-and those brave few who step up to challenge these systems or institutions find themselves under fire from both fellow Christians and the governments or corporations they are questioning.

Tony Campolo refers to the good Samaritan when questioning the social order and infrastructure that allowed such exploitation. "When you minister to the poor of the world directly and individually," he comments, "even governments may lend you a hand. But begin suggesting that a government's political and economic systems actually create privation and suffering, and you will be told that you're in over your head-that you're messing around in areas that Christians ought to leave alone."²

Campolo quotes Brazilian Bishop Donn Helder Camaro, facing such a reality: "When I gave them food, they called me a saint. Yet when I asked why they had no food in the first place, they called me a Communist."

Yes, the good Samaritan is good and we should be alert to good Samaritan opportunities. But as Christians we need to take intentional, informed, and focused steps to address ourselves, our resources, and our influence to helping our "neighbors" across the world.

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¹ Matt. 23:23, NLT.
² Tony Campolo, "Social Action," in Brian D. McLaren and Tony Campolo, Adventures in Missing the Point (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003), p. 107.

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Nathan Brown is a freelance writer and graduate student who lives in Queenstown, Australia.