MINDING OUR OWN BUSINESS
"Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not." (KJV, James
4:2).
"For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." (KJV, Matthew 25:42-46)
Those words, "...ye have not, because ye ask not", have to be among the most misused Scriptures in the Bible. We say, that the reason, people don't have basic necessities met, is because they "ask not". We ramble it off, as if it were key to our doctrine; yet, if we dig deeper, we will find that the real meaning is very different from our usage of it. The Scripture passage focuses on motives for our prayers. It is never dealing with asking people for help. It is not dealing with seeking God for the basic necessities of life, either. It deals with asking "amiss"--out of the lusts and greed of our hearts. The desire to obtain more and more for ourselves, selfishly--by any means necessary--fighting and warring--all futile, because the motives are wrong. That is why "ye have not".
I have heard this Scripture used to imply that saints who are in need are responsible for asking--even when the need should be obvious to the observers. If there is lack among us, and we have the ability to meet the need, the Bible admonishes us, not to wait to be asked, but "whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" I dare say, that the love of God isn't dwelling in him, actively. Why do we put so many restrictions on who is deserving of our goods--and more importantly, of ourselves?
I must admit, my present (very challenging) circumstances have been bittersweet. Hard, yes--a very bitter pill to swallow; at the same time it has been a blessing, too, a time of reflection, prayerful and focused. It also has caused me to write about the things that I have watched for many years--yet remained silent, feeling unqualified, to speak. During this time, God has led me to forums to share the truth about our love, compassion and attitudes toward one another. After all, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, that ye have love, one toward another". There is no other sign--no tongues, no big edifice, no prosperity, no activities, no bake sales, not even worship services, just L-O-V-E, that will indicate to the world that we belong to Christ.
I am hard pressed to understand, why we are so stingy and selective with our acts of compassion. Perhaps, we think the person on the receiving end is undeserving. Maybe we surmise that "tough love" is best, or you might not want to get involved. Whatever the case may be, Jesus didn't provide an escape clause. He referenced those who met the needs of the least (note that!) among them--the most needy--not the most desirable. Not the favored ones. Not the elite. Not the famous. Not the most gifted. Not the most educated. Not the most talented--but the least, the forgotten, the lonely, the abused, the used, the imperfect. Jesus chose them. He wants us to choose them, too, to shower our best upon.
How is it that we judge who deserves our compassion and who does not? We are admonished not to become judges. Why? When we judge, we receive the same harsh judgement that we mete out (Matthew 7:1; Psalm 50:6; Romans:14:10) "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things". We never know when our time of need will come; it is best to be compassionate and caring while you have the ability--so that in your (possible) time of need, your harsh judgement does not return to you.
Our charge is to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the stranger, the sick and the imprisoned. It is NOT our responsibility or even our right to question the validity of the need. God takes care of abusers--that's His job description, not ours. He can handle it, all we need to do is pick up "Ananias and Sapphira" and carry them out (Acts 5:1-11).
Let's mind our REAL business and leave the rest to God.
4:2).
"For I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." (KJV, Matthew 25:42-46)
Those words, "...ye have not, because ye ask not", have to be among the most misused Scriptures in the Bible. We say, that the reason, people don't have basic necessities met, is because they "ask not". We ramble it off, as if it were key to our doctrine; yet, if we dig deeper, we will find that the real meaning is very different from our usage of it. The Scripture passage focuses on motives for our prayers. It is never dealing with asking people for help. It is not dealing with seeking God for the basic necessities of life, either. It deals with asking "amiss"--out of the lusts and greed of our hearts. The desire to obtain more and more for ourselves, selfishly--by any means necessary--fighting and warring--all futile, because the motives are wrong. That is why "ye have not".
I have heard this Scripture used to imply that saints who are in need are responsible for asking--even when the need should be obvious to the observers. If there is lack among us, and we have the ability to meet the need, the Bible admonishes us, not to wait to be asked, but "whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" I dare say, that the love of God isn't dwelling in him, actively. Why do we put so many restrictions on who is deserving of our goods--and more importantly, of ourselves?
I must admit, my present (very challenging) circumstances have been bittersweet. Hard, yes--a very bitter pill to swallow; at the same time it has been a blessing, too, a time of reflection, prayerful and focused. It also has caused me to write about the things that I have watched for many years--yet remained silent, feeling unqualified, to speak. During this time, God has led me to forums to share the truth about our love, compassion and attitudes toward one another. After all, "By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, that ye have love, one toward another". There is no other sign--no tongues, no big edifice, no prosperity, no activities, no bake sales, not even worship services, just L-O-V-E, that will indicate to the world that we belong to Christ.
I am hard pressed to understand, why we are so stingy and selective with our acts of compassion. Perhaps, we think the person on the receiving end is undeserving. Maybe we surmise that "tough love" is best, or you might not want to get involved. Whatever the case may be, Jesus didn't provide an escape clause. He referenced those who met the needs of the least (note that!) among them--the most needy--not the most desirable. Not the favored ones. Not the elite. Not the famous. Not the most gifted. Not the most educated. Not the most talented--but the least, the forgotten, the lonely, the abused, the used, the imperfect. Jesus chose them. He wants us to choose them, too, to shower our best upon.
How is it that we judge who deserves our compassion and who does not? We are admonished not to become judges. Why? When we judge, we receive the same harsh judgement that we mete out (Matthew 7:1; Psalm 50:6; Romans:14:10) "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things". We never know when our time of need will come; it is best to be compassionate and caring while you have the ability--so that in your (possible) time of need, your harsh judgement does not return to you.
Our charge is to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the stranger, the sick and the imprisoned. It is NOT our responsibility or even our right to question the validity of the need. God takes care of abusers--that's His job description, not ours. He can handle it, all we need to do is pick up "Ananias and Sapphira" and carry them out (Acts 5:1-11).
Let's mind our REAL business and leave the rest to God.
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