The movie Forrest Gump is now an American classic.  Most people watch it for the humor that is conveyed, but also for the film’s historical significance.  A fictitious Gump finds himself responsible for numerous events in history that are beyond his ability to comprehend, such as Elvis Presley’s dance moves, Watergate, Bear Bryant’s coaching success, to name a few.  For that reason, the movie is enjoyable to many because it reminds them of events they can remember as children or younger adults.  The movie is nostalgic.

One of the key moments is when Forrest Gump saves the life of Lieutenant Dan in the Vietnam War.  The lieutenant has been significantly injured and he knows it.  He does not want to go on living after an injury such as this.  He does not desire to be interfered with.  He feels like he knows what is best for him, and what is best is to die in battle just like his father, grandfather, and great grandfather who also died in historical American wars.  As a result, he protests when Gump picks him up and carries him off on his shoulders.  He is angry with Gump for violating the course of action he thinks is best for him. 

Lieutenant Dan faces an uphill battle for sure.  He is visited by the demons of bitterness, grief, and anger as he adjusts to life without his legs.  Yet, in the end, he finds healing and wholeness, even spiritually, thanks to the help of his friend, Forrest Gump, the friend who is always there for him, the friend who cares about him enough to save his life, the friend who refuses to allow him to die alone in a swamp in a foreign country.  Years later, he thanks Gump for saving his life.  The two go into business and become millionaires.  They find special women to marry.  Lieutenant Dan even receives prosthetic legs and walks again.  Yet, none of this would have happened had Forrest Gump respected the wishes of his friend during a time of crisis, leaving him to die.  No healing 0r future life would have occurred.  Somehow, in his simple mind, Gump knows that friendship demands more.  He knows that sometimes we must forcefully intervene for the life and good of our friend, even if our friend gets angry with us and protests, even if our friend’s response is the same as Lieutenant Dan’s.

Have you ever wanted people to leave you alone during a time when you were hurting?  Have you ever found yourself in a situation that is emotionally like that of Lieutenant Dan?  Your world crumbles without warning, and you just want to be left by yourself.  You don’t want anyone to interfere.  Do you know someone who is in such a situation?  Are you, like Forrest Gump, skeptical that their chosen course of action is the right one?  Here is a harder question.  How much do you care about that person?  Do you care enough about them to intervene?  Do you care enough to forcefully intervene, especially if it is for their own good?

The tragedy of the parable of the Good Samaritan is that the people who are supposed to intervene and come to the aid of a person who is hurting, the religious people, do not.  The people who are charged with caring and representing God to humans do not.  Instead, they pass by someone who will die without their intervention.  They walk the other way, as they are more concerned with ritual defilement.  We hear no protest from the mouth of the man who is injured.  Perhaps he expects it.  It may be a stretch to say that he might want it.  Maybe he prefers death to interference, who knows?  There are no recorded remarks on his part.  What we do know is that there is no intervention from the priest and the Levite.  The only reason the man lives and is nursed back to health is because a Samaritan man intervenes at great risk.  Someone else decides what is best for the injured man.

I am becoming more and more convinced that as followers of Christ, we are called to carry with us a heightened awareness of what is best for our friends in the family of God, our brothers and sisters in Christ.  I think this to be a more than necessary calling. Many times, “loving one another” means disagreeing with “one another,” stepping in and doing what we know is best for “one another,” even though this hard route will require great risk and boldness on our part.  When we are faithful to this calling, the result will likely be that these friends, these brothers and sisters, like Lieutenant Dan, express gratitude to us in the long run.  Over time, we should not be surprised if they thank us for the forceful intervention they did not initially appreciate, yet they now view as necessary to bring wholeness and healing to their lives.