Christianity Demonstrated

Wanna read a great story that is bound to encourage you? Check this one out!

It is amazing to me how easy it is to forget about the things we should be doing as God's church. Instead of trying to combat what everyone else is doing, I often wonder if things like this story here will faciliate more success? I think it is worth considering, at least. It is undoubtedly what Jesus spent His time doing. In fact, the only ones I see Jesus ever criticizing are the ones who focused on being so critical of others.

Thanks to Trey Morgan for sharing this great story! This is good, practical, and meaningful stuff that actually matters.

While there is certainly no doubt that as Christians, we should stand up for what is right and oppose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), Jesus also gives us a pretty good indication as to what is supposed to actually characterize us as His distinct and unique disciples (John 13:35). What should define us more than anything is our love, which is far above any other gift (1 Corinthians 13). I think most would agree with this statement. But what I fear is too often forgotten here (myself included at times) is the responsibility to actually demonstrate this.

Let us remember how Jesus really defines serving Him, as well as things that will condemn us:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the 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 foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked or clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, saying, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:31-46).

Perhaps this is a good example of what Jesus was referring to when sharply rebuking the religious elite throughout Matthew 23:2-36.

I was humbled about a month ago by a sweet elderly lady in the congregation where I am so blessed to preach. I did not particularly like what she said to me, but all I needed was the three minutes it took for me to swallow my big ol' pride to realize how much I actually needed to hear what she had to say. Here in La Grange, I go with the Ladies Bible class to two nursing homes; one on the 2nd Wednesday morning of the month, and an assisted living home on the 4th Wednesday of the month. At one of these places, we don't get a lot of support. The staff seems to not want us there. Often times they forget we are coming and they don't have a room for us, so they have to go put something together, which usually holds us up for about 20 minutes. They do not announce it. Often times we notice that we are not even on the calendar.

Afterwards, one day, I was doing my usual griping about it and throwing a pity party for us and suggested that maybe we should just drop this act, shake the dust off our feet and go somewhere else where we will be appreciated. Well this sweet lady, smiled and put her sweet hand on my shoulder and asked me to try and remember that how we are treated by the staff at the nursing home is not the residents' fault; and that it would be a shame to take away what they look so forward to each month. She reminded me that Jesus and the apostles, like us, grew discouraged from time to time but that never stopped them from doing what they could do to make a difference.

I was humbled to say the least. But am I ever thankful for the wisdom and guidance of older brothers and sisters, who have such a delicate, yet forceful way of sharing their wisdom with us; a wisdom that their own life experiences have taught them. Had I stopped thinking about myself and my own personal likes, maybe I would have remembered why I was actually there to begin with; to encourage the elderly in hopes of showing people the joys of Christianity.

May God be with us all, in our efforts to be His citizens in His glorious kingdom! And may each and every one of us strive daily to follow Jesus' example of kingdom living.

Have a great day!