• We Will Be Held Accountable For How We Treated The Least of These

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to knowing what God expects of us in specific situations. Like which class should I pick? What job should I take? Who should I spend time with? The list goes on and on. The answers to those questions aren't always clear, but there is something that the Bible is not ambiguous about and that’s what Jesus’ expectations of how we should be living our lives are. We tend to make it complicated, but it's not. We are told in the book of Matthew what Jesus is going to look at when it comes to our lives. First of all, we will be judged on whether or not we believed and followed Christ as the Lord of our lives. But secondly, our lives are going to be examined based on what we did for other people. Specifically those in need.

    Let’s look at Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus said:

    "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' "Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?' "And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!' "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.' "Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."


    No Room For Misinterpretation

    It doesn’t get any clearer than this. Jesus didn’t leave any room for misinterpretation here. As we are clearly told in these verses, when one day we stand before God, we are going to be held accountable for what we did when we crossed paths with people in need. We aren’t told we are going to be judged on whether or not we got a phd in all things Christianity. We aren’t told we are going to be judged on what knowledge we filled our minds with here on earth. We are told we are going to be judged based on how we meet the needs of the people most of us would rather just pass on by and ignore. The ones who are hungry and thirsty, the ones who are a stranger and may appear strange to us, the ones walking around without suitable clothing, the ones who are sick and suffering, and the ones who are imprisoned.

    And what I find very interesting here is not once does Jesus say only help the ones you deem worthy. He doesn't tell us that it's our job to try to investigate their life to see if their needs are legitimate first. No, we are called to act, not excuse inaction. The fact they are in need means it’s up to you and me to step up and meet those needs. 

    So how are we doing with this? Well there's a very easy way to determine if we're missing the mark when it comes to helping those in need. Ask yourself,

    Some Self-Examination

    When’s the last time you brought food and a drink to someone going without? When’s the last time you invited a stranger into your home?  When’s the last time you gave clothing to someone in need?  When’s the last time you went to visit someone sick in hospital?  When’s the last time you visited someone in prison?

    If the answer to those questions are anything other than recently and often, then you and I are missing the mark when it comes to living out our faith and the only people we are fooling by our inaction is ourselves, not God.

    He knows our hearts, He knows our actions. He knows who we cross paths with on a daily basis. He also knows when we change our path to avoid encountering someone we would rather not. That said, if we want to be told "well done" when we arrive in heaven one day, we need to change how we are living today. Choosing to put meeting the needs of others and sharing Jesus with them before everything else. And if we find we are short on time, then the question isn't do we cut back on how we help, the question is what changes do I have to make to my life in order to meet each and every need I encounter? Because no where here do we see we are given a free pass if we are busy, even if we are busy with church stuff. No one day Jesus is going to separate the sheep from the goats and if we want to be in the right group then, we need to change how we live now.

    When We Serve Them, We Serve Him

    There's always going to be a reason to not do something. But we need to stop looking for excuses and start realizing that every day we have an opportunity to live out our faith as we encounter the least of these and when we serve them, we are serving Him.

    Closing off with another call to this way of living from James 2, verses 14 to 16 which read:

    What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well"-but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. James 2:14-17




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