Matthew 25:31-46
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The church today has forgotten the principles of the teachings of Jesus Christ. They read the bible and take from it what fits their lifestyle. They are so busy focusing on the brutal murder of an innocent man that they forget His life and what he taught. Too busy taking His blood and pouring it all over them in an attempt to hide from the eyes of God. Jesus himself taught in the New Testament how to live life in relationship with The Almighty God. He spoke in parables and showed examples of how to conduct yourself in times of crisis and times of peace. How the house of God was to be treated and how the scriptures were to be followed. The church has lost the purity of these teachings in direct result of elevating their status in the world. To build a kingdom to rule over when they die. What king has ever allowed anyone to rule with him? Why would the Maker of all creation allow others to be in charge of His creation? Especially when they themselves condemn themselves as being sinners unfit and unworthy to even look upon The Creator?
The church today has lost its way and its true purpose in pursuit of storing up treasures on earth and heaven. You would be hard pressed to find 0.5% of their tithes being dedicated to their benevolence funds. The majority is reserved for their mission trips overseas, youth, deacons, pastor’s salaries and paying those who work in the church office. There is also the allotment for the elaborate productions of plays and decorations that all go into the stage show that is Sunday Morning Services. I am not counting the money that is allotted to pay for the power, water and other various necessities in this world. But the true mission of the church was to help the orphans, widows and the displaced. Instead of allotting the majority of their funds to these emergencies in life they instead choose to produce a show worthy of Hollywood. They turn away those who come to them saying, “We aren’t set up to help in that way.” Or my personal favorite, “Here is a list of charities and government programs that we give our money to.”
The thing is that here is someone standing in front of you with a legitimate need such as homelessness, food, clothes, shoes, and you send them away to an agency that they have already tried and will not help them. Did not Jesus say in the above passage that whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me? So therefore are you not turning away Jesus when you tell people you won’t help them?
Luke 10:25-37
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall 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 your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” 29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
The Good Samaritan
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
Money is freely passed around in churches today. Offering plates are passed during services making people feel obligated to give in order to feel that they’ve listened to God and tithed, even though they’ve already sent 10% of their paycheck in. The visitors feel obligated to give because they are taking up space. And business is conducted on a daily basis in God’s house.
Matthew 21:12-13
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Cleansing the Temple
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers’ den.”
I point out these things not in an attempt to condemn Christians and churches. I am simply fed up with the lies and hypocrisy running rampant in society today, starting with our churches. If one church isn’t able to meet the immediate need of the person who has come to them for help then the honest next step is to ask yourself “What would Jesus do?” As stated in the above passages He would find a way. If one has not the resources then they can call other churches in the area or in their denomination and request assistance. If several churches pooled their collective resources then one need could be met without too much strain on one particular church’s budget, thus leaving some benevolence for their members who need assistance as well.
But simply giving someone the brush off because you don’t want to deal with why they are making you uncomfortable isn’t the answer and isn’t what Jesus would do.
As a Christian you are constantly taught to step outside of your comfort zone. Thus the reason so many mission trips to places like Guatemala, New Guinea and other countries that aren’t as built up as the United States. But they spend so much time looking elsewhere to “proselytize” that they miss Jesus in their own neighborhood.
When family and friends fail you the church is supposed to be there to help you and become your family. They fail miserably many times in today’s society. There are some people in these churches who’s hearts are firmly seeking the face of The Almighty God and seek to do nothing but what God tells them to. They have hearts after God and genuinely want to provide any need they see. They are few and far between, but they are there.
In the same respect not all churches function in the capacity I’ve exampled. Some do actually live by the code of providing, no questions asked, any need of any person who God sends through their doors. They are precious gems in this sea of rotting fruit.
These observations aren’t shared from any bitterness on this writer’s part, but from the deep wound of hurt that has been bestowed upon her many times in her life when asking said churches for help with basic survival needs. I speak from a place of sorrow for these hearts that have lost their way, not a place of anger. I want this clear. I also speak from experience as a church member and a non church member. I have gotten more genuine help, more kindness, and more compassion and felt more human from complete strangers than I have ever gotten from any family member or church. Aside from my mother who has experienced more pain in this area than me because she has had to ask for help my entire life because of the way people have treated, betrayed and belittled her. She and I are the only ones we have to rely on.
My prayer is that this post will open the eyes of people who assume there is help out there. Those who condemn me for being forced to go to many different places to find even enough to eat for the week.
Because life isn’t as rosy as people want to believe. And just because someone is poor, homeless, or without the fancy material things of life, doesn’t make them any less human and deserving of respect than those who sit in mansions and make millions of dollars. In fact that is when you should give more kindness and respect because that may be the one act that helps more than money. The simple feeling of being cared about. Of feeling like you are human beings no matter how much you stink from lack of ability to keep up your hygiene.
This world, especially the religious institutions, needs to get back to compassionate living. And actually taking care of one’s neighbor yourself instead of brushing them off to government. In no scripture throughout the entirety of it did Jesus or God ever tell man to go to Caesar or government for the meeting of their needs. Because to love and take care of one another is to love God.
Simple as that.
Love and Blessings,
Simone Frances Reed
