Jump Start # 1739

John 8:48 “The Jews answered and said to Him, ‘Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?’” 

  The angry Jews had enough of Jesus. They were not only convinced that He was not the Messiah, but they tried to get the crowds to join them in denouncing and discrediting Him. Our passage reveals a powerful way that they tried to accomplish this. The Jews claimed that Jesus was a Samaritan. That doesn’t mean that much to us in our culture. This was an extremely racial, prejudicial and offensive label among the Jews. The Samaritans were “half-breeds.” They were not pure Jews. When Jesus went to Samaria, John states, “For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (4:9). If Jesus was a Samaritan, that meant, He wasn’t a full blooded Jew. He was no longer a true descendent of Abraham, He would not be of the tribe of Judah and He could not be in line of David’s throne. In essence, the Messiah is not a Samaritan. You are a Samaritan, you are not the Messiah. This was more than a theological dig, it was racial. In our culture, using the “N-word,” is wrong. It is offensive, careless and hurtful. For a white person to call a black person, the “N-word,” will start trouble. It is wrong. This is what calling Jesus a Samaritan meant. It was intended to belittle, hurt and ruin Him.

Name calling is nothing new. It’s often the place people turn to when they have no defense, no argument. “Samaritan language” hasn’t stopped. It’s still being used today by brethren. We don’t recognize it, but I hear it much too often. Today, the “Samaritan language,” is to call something you don’t like, agree with, or is simply different, “Denominational” or “Liberal.”  Those “Samaritan” words are used to discredit, denounce and condemn what others are doing. It goes too often like this:

• “Your church building looks denominational.”
• “You don’t have regular gospel meetings like others do. You must be liberal.”
• “You are doing a special weekend for teens. That’s liberal.”

The thought behind this “Samaritan language,” is that everything the denominations or the liberals are doing is wrong. Let’s first clarify some words.

The word “denomination” means a subunit of something larger. It’s only a part of something else. Organizational, financially and other ways churches that belong to a denomination are linked and tied together. Denominational churches have headquarters and are organized beyond the congregation. Congregations are not independent. An example would be you could see a boat in the ocean. You could see several boats in the ocean. These are separate and independent. Then you could see the U.S. Navy Fleet. They are linked together under the U.S. government. That’s the idea of a denomination. I went to the bank once and asked for some change and the teller asked me what denominations I wanted. I said, “Two Baptists and one Methodist.” She didn’t get it.

The church you read about in the Bible is not a part of a denomination. Each congregation stands independent. Each congregation decides which direction it will go and what it will do. There are no orders coming down from an earthly headquarters. Money doesn’t flow back and forth and personnel isn’t changed by the decision of someone outside that congregation. The church in the Bible is not a denomination. It belongs to solely and completely to Jesus.

The assumption is made that everything done in denominations is wrong. This is why this has become a “Samaritan” word. To say, “That’s denominational,” is to discredit and denounce something because it looks like something the denominations would do. Take a walk through your preacher’s library someday. The majority of the books in his library are written by “denominational” authors. Not everything done in denominations is wrong. Truth is truth, no matter who says it.

I have found those who so quickly and thoughtless use this “Samaritan” word, act more like a denomination themselves than what they are pointing their critical finger at. People say, “That doesn’t look like one of our buildings. It must be denominational.” Really? “One of our buildings?” What does that mean? People are asked, “What time does worship begin?” The reply, “The Scriptural time, 10:30.” They say that as if they nearly believe that. There is no SCRIPTURAL time to start services. Search that Bible, you won’t find that other than worship on Sunday. Our gospel meetings, some say, go from Sunday to Friday, the Scriptural way. Better be careful with that language. It is sounding more and more like they are part of a denomination. Because something is different, doesn’t make it wrong.

The term “Liberal,” is offensive, rude and used to end a discussion. Back in the 1950’s-1960’s, some progressive brethren and conservative brethren differed on the role of the church and the use of church funds in social things and in helping non-Christians. A division took place. The conservative wing was rudely referred to as “antis”. They were “anti” doing things. They were against things. The progressive side was referred to as “liberal.” And the terms seem to have stayed with us far too long.

A congregation decides not to have Sunday night services. “LIBERAL.” Why? Because everyone has Sunday night services. A congregation decides not to offer the Lord’s Supper a second time on Sunday. “LIBERAL.” Why? Because they are different. That’s how this “Samaritan” word is applied.

It is easy to throw out those “Samaritan” words to discredit and destroy the good a church is doing. We must not forget that when Jesus taught, He was “different.” He didn’t teach like the other rabbis. The words we ought to use are “Biblical” or “unbiblical.” Different isn’t wrong, if it is Biblical.

It would do a lot of places much good if they started doing things a bit different. They are stuck, stagnate and stale. Every year doing the same thing. No new ideas. No fresh approaches. Bible classes taught the same way. Sermons on the same subjects. Over and over and over. To dare introduce a new idea is immediately shot down as being both “Liberal” and “Denominational.”

It is refreshing where I worship. Our leaders are only concerned about being Biblical. We change things all the time. We may have a visiting preacher come in for just a day or two. The following year, we might do something completely different than that. We’ve had some classes that only lasted 5 weeks. The decisions our shepherds make are solely based upon what they feel our group needs at this moment. They thoroughly research the Bible to make sure we are Biblical. Then we set sail. Oh, we hear it all the time from others. The stale churches love to call us liberal and denominational. They continue to drift along, going no where, and we have goals, plans and agendas for years to come. We don’t listen to what others say. We are concerned solely with what the Lord thinks. We are a large congregation. We’ve been told that you can’t be that large and be right. Funny, guess those folks that say that never read the first pages of Acts. We are not up to 3,000 yet, but would love to be there someday.

Jesus was called a Samaritan. Was He? No. Did that cause Him to adjust what He was doing or to tone down His plans and words? No. He wasn’t a Samaritan. He wasn’t wrong. The name callers were trying to stop Him. Jesus was Biblically right.

We must follow suit. Don’t stop things just because others call you names. Make sure you are Biblically right, then launch away. Don’t listen to what others are saying. It may be nothing more than guilty voices who are jealous because you are doing more than they ever will. And please, stop using “Samaritan language.” It isn’t nice, right nor what God wants us to do. If something is not right, point it out with the Bible. If it’s simply different, recognize that and don’t stand in someone’s way. If you do, you might just get run over.

Roger