Bystander Intervention Training This past weekend I had to go into work for some mandatory training. This mandatory training is needed and worth every second the Air Force puts into it. I believe that the outcome will end up saving a life one day. Throughout the training we had small group discussions, and during part of the training we were shown a video clip of people walking by hurt people, and doing nothing. Over and over we saw this play out, and I was disgusted. In one clip, a man was stabbed on the sidewalk and over 50 people walked by him while he was dying…he died. In another clip, a man was hit by a car, and people on the sidewalk just watched him lying there in the street. You may remember the woman in the ER that died while people just watched her fall on the floor. After watching these clips, I couldn’t help but think about Jesus. “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 We are told that everything hangs on to these two commandments, and the subject of being a BYSTANDER deals directly with the second greatest commandment of all time. Last week I wrote about who your neighbor is, and a man asked Jesus this question in Luke 10:29. Jesus went on to tell him the story of the Good Samaritan, and how people that would normally be enemies on any other day, were brought together by this second commandment. In essence, EVERYONE is your neighbor, even your enemies. “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” During Jesus’ famous sermon where we find the Beatitudes, we find His words telling us to LOVE OUR ENEMIES. They are our “neighbor”. “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” Matthew 25:44-45 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. BY THIS ALL MEN WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” John 13:34 “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2 Paul writes about being a BYSTANDER, and restoring your brother gently. I bring this verse up because I feel that it is also important for us to be careful. Satan will use every opportunity to attack you and I, and the moment you decide to start helping your “neighbor”, you have to be prepared for the attack from the evil one. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 I share this verse to help all of us realize that we alone cannot defeat the evil forces, but with God, all things are possible. We can overcome, and we will overcome if you put your trust in God. I have two more verses to share today, and I know that I have shared a lot of scripture. But, I want you to know that this is what became more and more aware to me yesterday during my training. The Bible is RELEVANT, and it will be for all time. Thank God for providing us with this handbook that teaches us, and shows us by example how to live, and how to treat others. I haven’t had the experience of walking by a man bleeding on the street…I haven’t had someone pass out in the ER…but, I pray today that I will remember the lessons that God provided me in His book when I do have the opportunity to INTERVENE. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.” 1 John 3:18 “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17 We know what is right, do not ignore and walk by if God is calling you into action. The Bible is a great source for Bystander Intervention Training….read it today. Have a great day Facebook Friends. Bert W.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:58:05 +0000
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