Bob Pierce was a man who knew what it was to bear another’s burdens. He was one of the most remarkable men I have ever known, a great evangelical humanitarian, co-founder of Youth for Christ, founder of World Vision, and, later in his life, founder of Samaritan’s Purse, which is now headed by my son, Franklin. I loved and admired this amazing man who was a friend of the ”little” people, the forgotten, the hurting people who are unheard of and unsung except in the courts of Heaven.
He once told Franklin, “The only measurement I had in assessing what we should be involved in was ‘Is this something Jesus would do? Something God would want done?’ Ultimately it boiled down to something I wrote in my Bible on Kojedo Island: ‘Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.’”
When the Good Samaritan found a man robbed, beaten, and left for dead, he didn’t continue on his trip and “report the accident.” He didn’t call 911 and leave the scene, nor pay someone else to go back and care for the man. The Samaritan himself got involved.
He tenderly lifted the wounded body onto his own donkey and continued on the journey to Jericho. When he reached the city, he found a place to stay, and probably cared for the patient. The next day, he made arrangements with the innkeeper to pay all financial debts that the patient would incur.
That is what bearing one another’s burdens is all about. It’s so easy to give to a charity or a ministry and feel good about it. It’s not so easy to provide the personal charity. It’s easier to give to someone overseas than it is to take a casserole next door.
May God give us the sensitivity to recognize the needs of those around us and lend a helping hand.
