Matthew 25:31-46 (please read it before you read this post)
The title in my bible that describes this passage is called “The Final Judgment” or maybe in your bible it’s titled “The Sheep and the Goats”, which ever titled you have it doesn’t matter, the content is still the same.
A couple of years ago during my youth pastor days, I was reading this passage and it hit me, that when we come face to face with our creator we will be judged base on this passage. In my 15 years of being a Christ follower I don’t think I’ve ever heard a sermon on this passage at the churches I’ve attended. Why? The passage seemed very straightforward and clear.
As I was reading the passage I remember feeling this burning in my chest and a great conviction, because as a pastor I wasn’t teaching this biblical truth to the teenagers I was reaching. From that point on I launched several new projects that was about living out our faith in Christ in a real and practical way.
But, here’s my question, where’s the churches response to this passage? Why aren’t we communicating this essential truth, a truth that has a key role in our final judgment? Are we afraid? Or are we too preoccupied with our own personal agenda’s of how the bible can benefit us, that we skit passages likes these over because they are about sacrificing and thinking about someone else before yourself?
I had the opportunity to live and work in some of the poorest areas in the United States and this past summer I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in Rwanda, Africa with a team, and this summer I’ll be going to Haiti for a week with a team. I’ve seen the reality of the majority of the world’s population first hand and I have to tell you church that we can’t just skip over this passage and ignore its challenge for us as followers of Christ. “We must respond”.
I’m not advocating globing missions, I’m advocating responding to the words of Jesus, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”, “You are the salt of the earth”, “You are the light of the world”.
Do we really believe the words of Jesus? Are we truly in this faith for Him? Or are we in it for what we can gain? Please hear my heart, church can’t be about things like: buildings, money, popularity, achievement, color of the carpet, whether the building looks presentable or not. Church has to be about the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the hope He has for the world.
These are difficult times for people right now and I would bet you that they are not thinking about the colors of the sanctuary (auditorium) walls or whether a light bulb is out in the main lobby, they are thinking, “how am I going to make it tomorrow” and the church’s response has to be Colossians 1:27 (NIV) “To them God chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glories riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The hope that carries us day by day is a mystery, but according to this verse, this mystery is rooted in Christ, and if its roots are in Christ then we must respond to the words of Jesus and get our hands and feet dirty, the way He got his hands and feet dirty.
Just my thoughts…
