One day an expert on Moses' laws came to test Jesus' orthodoxy by asking him
this question: "Teacher, what does a man need to do to live forever in heaven?"
Jesus replied, "What does Moses' law say about it?" "It says," he replied, "that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor just as much as you love yourself." "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you shall live!"
But, wanting to justify himself, the man asked, "Which neighbors must I love?"
And Jesus replied with an illustration:
"A Jew going on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by bandits.
They stripped him of his clothes and money, and beat him up and
left him lying half dead beside the road. By chance a priest
came along; and when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other
side of the road and passed him by. A temple--assistant
walked over and looked at him lying there, but then went on.
But a despised Samaritan* (a heretic) came along, and when he saw him,
he felt deep pity. Kneeling beside him the Samaritan soothed
his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man
on his donkey and walked along beside him till they came to an inn, where
he nursed him through the night. The next day he handed the
innkeeper two silver coins and told him to take care of the man.
"If his bill runs higher than that," he said, " I'll pay the difference
the next time I am here."
"Now which of these three," Jesus asked, "would you say was a neighbor
to the bandit's victim?" The man replied, "The one who showed him some pity."
Then Jesus said, "Yes, now go and do the same."
* The Jewish leaders showed just how much they despised Samaritans when they called Jesus one in { John 8:48 } :The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Parochial-minded "Conservative Christians" talk about being "born again"
or "baptized" as a way of being initiated into a select club of the saved.
But that's not the way the Scriptures see things. In the passage
below what Paul says about being Jewish and about circumcision clearly
applies just as well to being "Christian" and being "baptized".
It is not labels and rituals that matter to God. The labels that
are pasted on the outside of containers are supposed to represent what is inside those containers, but are not guaranteed to do so. Although we human beings are easily
fooled by people mis-labelled "believers" and/or "men of God", such labels don't fool God !
{ Romans 2: 25-29 } 
"Being a Jew is worth something if you obey God's laws;
but if you don't, then you are no better off than the heathen.
And if the heathen obey God's laws, won't God
give them all the rights and honors he planned to give the Jews?
In fact, those heathen will be much better off
than you Jews who know so much about God and have his promises
but don't obey his laws. For you are not real Jews
just because you were born of Jewish parents or because
you have gone through the Jewish initiation ceremony of circumcision.
No, a real Jew is anyone whose heart is right with God.
For God is not looking for those who cut their bodies
in actual body circumcision, but he is looking for those with changed
hearts and minds. Whoever has that kind of change in
his life will get his praise from God, even if not from you."
You or I can call ourselves "Christians" all we want.
But, when Jesus puts us all to the test which He has told us that
He will use, the labels that we have worn in this life
are not going to matter one bit. Many of the "Religious
Leaders" of our day may well be told what their predecessors
were told in { Matt. 21:31 }: "Truly I tell you, the tax
collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom
of God ahead of you."
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