A Distant and Diplomatic Love
In Matthew 25 Jesus lays down the mandate for His followers to feed, hydrate, welcome, clothe, nurse and visit the poor, afflicted and imprisoned.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.‘
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Jesus goes on to tell the “righteous” who call him “Lord“, but do none of these things, they “are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Up until recently the thing that was most striking to me about this story was that the cursed proclaimed Jesus as Lord. They are even called “the righteous”. We see this clearly explained to us in James 2 and the mantra that “faith without works is dead“.
But what may be even more striking is the personal nature of the mandate. “YOU gave me something to eat..YOU gave me something to drink…YOU invited me in…YOU clothed me…YOU looked after me..YOU came to visit me.” As Jesus looks upon the peoples of all nations separated to His right and left, He tells those on His right “YOU” did these things I have commanded and here is “YOUR” reward. I’ve never really doubted the personal nature of the command; that each of us is to do these things. But how? Honestly God? Each of us is to visit people in prison? Each of us is to nurse the sick? Can’t I just donate money to someone somewhere to do these things? Isn’t feeding the hungry and nursing the sick the job of welfare and Medicaid? It’s my tax dollars paying for it. So I’m good right?
In his book Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne writes:
I’m just not convinced that Jesus is going to say, “When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me,” or, “When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.” Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He seeks concrete acts of love: “you fed me, you visited me, you welcomed me, you clothed me.
Nor am I convinced He is going to say to me, “When I was hungry, you organized a food drive and collected canned goods and non-perishables, donated by people who paradoxically proclaim my name, yet shunned me on the street, then you gave those to the regional food pantry to redistrubute to organizations that programatically and dispassionately fed me. Way to go, here’s your inheritence.”
There is more likelihood of me hearing, “When I was hungry, there was a time when you fed me, you welcomed and encouraged me, sat with me, prayed with me and hugged me as a brother, but then you changed. You grew distant. Even though you knew where to find me, you did not come. Suddenly it had become too inconvenient and uncomfortable. From a distance you donated out of your abundance. You spoke diplomatically and proudly about how you were making a difference in the lives of ‘the poor.’ You developed programs and implemented practices that assured a safe barrier from having to personally and radicaly love and serve me. You chose observation over obedience and detachment over devotion.”
I honestly don’t know if the mandate is for every Christ-follower to do each of these things. Perhaps the intention is that as a community, as one body, these things are being attended to in a personal and compassionate way. That there is a unified purpose and servanthood. We know that some are called towards certain areas and away from others. The apostles recognized it wasn’t right for them to wait tables, because they knew it would neglect their ministry duty. But within their community they made certain it was done. The body was united and fulfilling it’s purpose in Christ. They were never detached from the real needs of people or distant from seeing them met.
Even though I have never been without a home and a bed to sleep in, there was a time when I knew poverty and hunger and the guilt and desperation of having to steal to eat. There was a time not so long ago, where God broke through my snobbery and comfort to bring me into friendship and closeness with the homeless, the afflicted, with prostitutes and drunkards. It was during this time, after my heart had warmed, that my eyes were opened to the truth of my own absent earthly father and his last years filled with homelessness and alcoholism. Then I disconnected into that distant and diplomatic place. Into a mindset where the “least of these” are a demographic inconvenience best “dealt with” from afar.
Elsewhere I read someone lamenting about how the rich drop off things they don’t need to be sorted and given to needy individuals who feel entitled to them. Neither ever coming in contact with one another; neither ever being transformed. Each walking away with a sense of pride for what they have done or what they have received.
Most of us feel a warm fuzzy when we pull our cars up to the convenient and overflowing Salvation Army dumpster at K-Mart, depositing our ill-fitting and out-of-fashion clothes. We silently praise ourselves when we write that bigger-than-normal check to that distant charity helping those kids somewhere, because we really feel the pain and sacrifice of having to wait until next month to get that new gadget.
Are these types of giving in themselves wrong? Yes, if we are fooling ourselves that they are all that is necessary. Jesus, during his time in flesh having nowhere himself to rest his head, requires more of us. He requires “concrete acts of love” that are engaging and personal. If we are already living out Matthew 25 locally, daily, and relationally, then by all means let us send support elsewhere and in every way. If we are not, then we stand on the left, confused goats proclaiming with our mouths and forsaking through our inaction.
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3 Responses to “A Distant and Diplomatic Love”
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Thanks for letting me read some of your work! You are quite the thought provoking writer! I’m glad that you are so enthusiastic about caring for the needs of others. That is part of a pastor’s heart and I believe it will rub off on the people in ministry with you just by being in fellowship with you and learning to care for others with the same heart that you have shared here, in your writing. Great work!
Actually, I went a little “works” crazy on this one, and failed to convey properly the point that this was less of a mandate “to do” (as if simply doing anything for it’s own sake makes a difference) and more of 1) a warning against unregenerate Christianity and 2) an amazing lesson about serving the poor equalling serving Jesus.
Does this scripture imply that what you do does matter to be able to be accepted into Gods kingdom and if so then where does the concept of being saved by grace and not by what you do or dont do so that none of us can brag about getting there come into view?