February 12, 2024

The “bystander effect” is a term used in psychology to explain why people don’t act to help when they know that they should. The big idea is that it seems the more people there are witnessing a situation where someone needs help, the less likely someone is to take action. Obviously, there are a lot of variables to it, but there is truth to it. Ask any pastor. Make an announcement from the pulpit that you need help in children’s ministry, and almost no one will respond. Talk to individuals one-on-one, and you’ll get a much higher number of responses. Everyone thinks someone else will do something. But often no one does. So, the need goes unmet.
I pictured this in our passage today. It’s just a story Jesus told and not a depiction of an actual event, but I imagined the temple assistant witnessing the priest passing by the hurt man on the road. When he sees the priest cross the road and go to the other side, it gave him permission to do the same thing. Maybe he thought that the priest knew something he didn’t know about the man. Maybe he thought that if the priest was too busy or important to help, then he was, too. Or maybe he just thought someone else would surely stop so he didn’t have to. The bystander effect is powerful. Unless we think the people watching us will think us special for acting, we often tend to do nothing at all.
The problem is, Jesus doesn’t want us to be bystanders. Think about the words Jesus used to describe what we, as His disciples, should be about. “Go.” “Serve.” “Heal.” “Give.” “Teach.” “Pray.” “Witness.” “Share.” We can’t be the “light of the world” that Jesus calls us to be if we’re hiding ourselves in the crowd and doing nothing. We can’t be the “salt of the earth” if we never get out of the saltshaker. WE are the Someone Else the world is waiting for. Jesus doesn’t want us to be bystanders. He wants us to be World Changers. One act of grace and mercy at a time. That’s God’s Word for you today.