They Will Be Held Accountable
To both my returning readers and my new readers,
This post is one I have already been working on for about 2 hours and I am starting over to tone it down a bit and cut down on the length. When I read the still incomplete first draft, I felt like I was preaching hellfire and damnation down on the Christian Churches that discriminate against my brothers and sisters with disabilities or mistreat us. There's still going to be a little bit of that in this post but I want to try not to be quite as blunt. So how's this for starters?
Matthew 25, Verses 31-40 tell the story of the Return of Christ and how He says to His children that they fed Him when He was hungry and clothed Him when He was naked, etc. . . Verse 40 is the feel good verse of the chapter, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (NIV). Verses 41-46, however. tell a very different story with a dramatic ending. Starting in Verse 41 it says, "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They will also answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
What? "Whatever you did not do for the least of these you did not do for me"?!?! "Depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire"?!?! You mean the Christian churches that have built new buildings in the last 10 or 15 years and didn't include ramps or accessible seating, you mean the people that made those decisions are gonna be judged? And the people that neglected to fix the problems when they were made aware of them will also be judged? What about the church people who keep their distance from us because they can't think of the politically correct thing to say? I mean, there's nothing like a good "How are you differently-abled, electric chair using, developmentally disabled people today?" Are they gonna be judged too? Yes. Because they are suppossed to treat us just like everyone else and welcome us with open arms.
I'll even take it a step further because there's a group of people I think will be judged perhaps even worse than the rest. Luke 17:2 says, "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones [those young in their faith] to sin" (NIV). Some translations say "stumble" instead of "sin." You mean all those so-called Christians who told us we weren't really Christians or didn't have enough faith because we didn't get healed, you mean they are gonna get judged for causing us to stumble? You betcha. They are going to be judged harshly for what they did to so many of us.
What can you as a reader take from this post? If you are a person with a disability, know that Jesus Christ values you as much as any other human being on the planet. Whether you are a Christian or not, whether you have been hurt by Christians or not, He wants to have a personal relationship with you. He wouldn't judge His own children for getting in the way of your having that relationship with Him if He did not value it.
On the other hand, if you are a Christian or especially if you are a leader in a Church and your church has not lived up to the standard set by Christ in Matthew 25 when it comes to People with Disabilities, it isn't too late. Our God is the God of second chances and third chances and fourth and fifth and seven hundredth chances. Build your ramps. Set aside places in the church for wheelchairs. Find out what the needs of disabled people in your congregation are or better yet, go out in the community and when you meet a person with a disability who isn't a church goer, ask if there are any accommodations the person needs if they were to come to your church. Meet the needs.
That's what church is about. That's what Christ is about. Meeting needs where they are. Definately meet them in your church but think outside the church. When I was in the nursing home for a year, there were three different churches who would come and do services during the week. Perhaps your church could do something like that. I realize that not every church can do everything but every church can do something. So, do something. Start doing what Christ said in the Matthew 25:31-40. Feed the Hungry. Clothe the Naked. Take care of the Sick. Visit the Prisoners. etc. . . Meet the needs. Lest you be judged. We must all meet needs where we find them. Lest we all be judged.
This post is one I have already been working on for about 2 hours and I am starting over to tone it down a bit and cut down on the length. When I read the still incomplete first draft, I felt like I was preaching hellfire and damnation down on the Christian Churches that discriminate against my brothers and sisters with disabilities or mistreat us. There's still going to be a little bit of that in this post but I want to try not to be quite as blunt. So how's this for starters?
Matthew 25, Verses 31-40 tell the story of the Return of Christ and how He says to His children that they fed Him when He was hungry and clothed Him when He was naked, etc. . . Verse 40 is the feel good verse of the chapter, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (NIV). Verses 41-46, however. tell a very different story with a dramatic ending. Starting in Verse 41 it says, "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They will also answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
What? "Whatever you did not do for the least of these you did not do for me"?!?! "Depart from me you who are cursed into the eternal fire"?!?! You mean the Christian churches that have built new buildings in the last 10 or 15 years and didn't include ramps or accessible seating, you mean the people that made those decisions are gonna be judged? And the people that neglected to fix the problems when they were made aware of them will also be judged? What about the church people who keep their distance from us because they can't think of the politically correct thing to say? I mean, there's nothing like a good "How are you differently-abled, electric chair using, developmentally disabled people today?" Are they gonna be judged too? Yes. Because they are suppossed to treat us just like everyone else and welcome us with open arms.
I'll even take it a step further because there's a group of people I think will be judged perhaps even worse than the rest. Luke 17:2 says, "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones [those young in their faith] to sin" (NIV). Some translations say "stumble" instead of "sin." You mean all those so-called Christians who told us we weren't really Christians or didn't have enough faith because we didn't get healed, you mean they are gonna get judged for causing us to stumble? You betcha. They are going to be judged harshly for what they did to so many of us.
What can you as a reader take from this post? If you are a person with a disability, know that Jesus Christ values you as much as any other human being on the planet. Whether you are a Christian or not, whether you have been hurt by Christians or not, He wants to have a personal relationship with you. He wouldn't judge His own children for getting in the way of your having that relationship with Him if He did not value it.
On the other hand, if you are a Christian or especially if you are a leader in a Church and your church has not lived up to the standard set by Christ in Matthew 25 when it comes to People with Disabilities, it isn't too late. Our God is the God of second chances and third chances and fourth and fifth and seven hundredth chances. Build your ramps. Set aside places in the church for wheelchairs. Find out what the needs of disabled people in your congregation are or better yet, go out in the community and when you meet a person with a disability who isn't a church goer, ask if there are any accommodations the person needs if they were to come to your church. Meet the needs.
That's what church is about. That's what Christ is about. Meeting needs where they are. Definately meet them in your church but think outside the church. When I was in the nursing home for a year, there were three different churches who would come and do services during the week. Perhaps your church could do something like that. I realize that not every church can do everything but every church can do something. So, do something. Start doing what Christ said in the Matthew 25:31-40. Feed the Hungry. Clothe the Naked. Take care of the Sick. Visit the Prisoners. etc. . . Meet the needs. Lest you be judged. We must all meet needs where we find them. Lest we all be judged.
posted by Amanda Brady | 3:35 AM
<< Home