Syn-cre-tism: The amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.
Students of the New Testament know that Samaritans were not well-regarded by the Jews in Jesus' day. Jews did not associate with Samaritans (John 4:9). One of the twists of the Parable of the Good Samaritan is that there is, in fact, a "good Samaritan!" How did this state of affairs arise, and what is the lesson in it for Christians today?
In the New Testament, the area known as Samaria lies between the land of Judea and its chief city Jerusalem in the south, and Jesus' home region of Galilee in the north. In the Old Testament, this area formed the northern kingdom of Israel with ten of the tribes of Israel settled there. We get the expression "the ten lost tribes of Israel" from the fact that these northern bloodlines were lost in 722 B.C. when the Assyrians forcibly evicted them, scattering them among the nations and bringing in new people from various parts of their empire to live in the land. These traumatic events are described in II Kings 17.
Why? What motivated this redistribution of people? At this time in world history, empire-builders had a theory. They believed that the best way to pacify their citizens and keep order was to demolish local allegiances and identities and instead build up a homogeneous population through forced relocation and intermarriage. No longer would there be tribes of Israelites and Syrians and Sidonians, etc. Rather all would be blended, peaceful "world citizens" of Assyria. Racial and ethnic tensions would be gone, and the empire would be united and persevere forever!
The resulting situation in Samaria was a mix of bloodlines, cultures, and religions. By the time we reach Jesus' day, Samaritans were semi-Jewish. They probably had some "Jewish blood", but their heritage had been diluted through other influences and contributions. So, too, had their faith become polluted through syncretism - the unholy combination of uniting the religion of Jehovah with false gods and idols. As II Kings 17:33 says, "So they worshiped the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away." Syncretism involves a "both-and" when it comes to matters of faith.
Syncretism is alive and well today. We feel modern temptations to intermix biblical faith with other influences when we take a cafeteria approach to religion. A smidge of New Age teachings, a dash of Eastern philosophy, a helping of secular humanism, etc. In the guise of tolerance and open-mindedness, religious integrity and whole-hearted devotion to Christ is lost.
Syncretism didn't work out so well for the Samaritans, and it won't work out well for those who follow its path today, either.
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