Cover Photo of Get Off Your Donkey from Amazon.com
“He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and
wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took
care of him.” –Luke 10:34
“The moral of the [Good Samaritan] story is that you have to
get off your donkey to help somebody.” —Reggie McNeal
There is an old saying, which you may have heard, it goes
something like this, “You should do what you can, not what you cannot.” The
point is simple, there are some things that we can do to make a difference and
these are the endeavors that we should focus our time and attention on, instead
of placing our focus and energies on what we cannot do. There are actions we
can take in the contexts of our lives to make a real difference in the world to
help others and to love our neighbors.
Reggie McNeal highlights this idea of making a difference
where you are in his book Get Off Your Donkey!: Help Somebody and Help Yourself. In
this book McNeal highlights the reality that we are all, ultimately, in the
people business, especially if we are in church ministry and leadership.
In his introduction McNeal highlights this issue, “I’m
trying to help them [church leaders] get out of the church business and into
the people business” (McNeal, p. 14). Like the priest and the Levite in the parable
of the Good Samaritan, too often the church “has passed by on the other side of
the road when we should be the ones showing the way” (McNeal, p. 15).
Oftentimes we can get trapped in over analysis and in
paralysis concerning all of the need and brokenness surrounding us in the
world. The needs and the problems around us are great, but we cannot afford to
allow these to bring us to inaction, depression or fatigue. McNeal encourages
his readers with the following, “We can’t afford to let this negative vibe
paralyze us into inactivity while people are bleeding out all around us” (McNeal,
p. 23). We must take action and help our neighbors. There is plenty we can do
to make a difference in our world.
We must be the church in the world and not just be on our
way to a church building with all of our religious activities, neglecting our
neighbor who is beaten and bloody on the roadside. McNeal says it this way, “The
problem is, religious activity is still getting in the way of our being good
neighbors” (p. 38).
As the church, we must move away from religious piety and
toward a Biblical model of discipleship. According to the book, “The litmus
test of discipleship is ‘follow-ship’! Are we doing what Jesus commanded, or
are we just really good at recalling his commands?” (p. 39). We cannot be all
talk in our service to the Lord and His church. We must put our faith into
practice and get off of our donkeys.
Get Off Your Donkey!: Help Somebody and Help Yourself is an
excellent book to light a fire under an often apathetic, complacent and lazy
church. Church leaders of every level and church members, and laity at every
level, should read this book. The church could use a good kick in the donkey to
get us back to our mission in the world.
Bibliography
McNeal, Reggie (2013-02-01). Get Off Your Donkey!: Help
Somebody and Help Yourself (p. 13). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
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