Do This and You Will Live

Here's the thing, I'm not writing this to create conflict. My personality flees from confrontation. I'm the person who will let the person behind me kick my seat and say nothing because it's not worth the conflict and I can suffer the inconvenience. So why God called me of all people to the gifts he did, I can not fathom. He's given me the gifts of wisdom, discernment, knowledge, and prophesy. And I have been sitting on them for years, because all those things, when used, have the potential to create confrontation. And that's the last thing in the world I want.

As a matter of fact, about eight years ago God gave me a prophetic word for someone, and it blew up in my face. They scolded me, saying if God had a word He would give it to someone older and wiser who had been saved for thirty years, not some kid. It shattered my confidence, and I have spent nearly a decade hiding from my gifts as a result. I questioned myself. I questioned God. But I've come to realize that my decision to hide my gifts forced me into disobedience, running like Jonah as far and fast as I could the other way. It's also a disservice to the church. The body of Christ is meant to function with all its parts, and I have been a dead limb, along for the ride. So I'm making a very hard decision today to operate in the gifts God has given me, but eventually, you have to get out of the whale and head to Nineveh or stay in disobedience. I'm older now, and wiser. Most importantly, I'm confident - not in myself, but in my God. I believe he can use me - even small, young me who flees at the slightest anticipation of conflict.

With that said, God has been speaking to me about the state of the church as a whole. This is certainly not a reflection of all churches or everyone in the church, but it has me angry. Mostly, it breaks my heart. And I feel it's something that has to be addressed. There's a very American idea that has seeped into the church about success and wealth. (It's important to keep those things separate, by the way. The American Dream is not the same thing as Biblical success.) I'm sure you have heard the phrase 'God helps those who help themselves.' Well, not only is that not in the scriptures, it's in direct opposition to the scriptures. God helps the helpless, the broken. His heart is for the widow, the orphan, the broken and the needy. Let's look at a few of my favorite scriptures, starting with Isaiah 1:16-17. You can read the whole chapter for context if you want. God is rebuking Judah and Jerusalem for their evil ways, and He gets to the end and tells them to repent and do what is right. But what is right?

16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.Cease to do evil,17 Learn to do good;Seek justice,Rebuke the oppressor;Defend the fatherless,Plead for the widow.

Seek justice. Rebuke the oppressor. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow. That's how you learn to do good.

And in Matthew 25:31-46 we see a picture of the end times, God separating out His children from those who are not His children. By what criteria does He divide them? Tithe? How much they read their Bibles? Did they go to church? No. He looks at one thing and one thing only. How did they treat the poor, the sick, the broken and the needy? Did they feed the hungry? Did they clothe the naked? Did they visit the sick and the prisoner? That is the ONLY thing He looks at. That says something about how important our treatment of those people is to God.

And lastly, I urge you to read Luke 10:25-37. You're probably familiar with it. The story of the good Samaritan. Jesus prefaces the parable with this:

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

He goes on to tell the parable of the Good Samaritan, saying anyone you see with a need is your neighbor. If you are close enough to see and know they have a need, you are obligated to love them and do what you can. This story is not just a nice way to live or something we should strive for. It's Jesus' answer to 'What shall I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus says, "Do this and you will live." 

So, loving God is half the equation, but only half. The treatment of the beaten man on the road determines whether or not you go to heaven, whether of not you ARE a Christian, not just the kind of Christian you are. In Matthew, whether or not God ushered them into heaven or said 'Depart from me,' was decided ENTIRELY on their treatment of the poor, broken, and needy. Think on that for a while.

If this post bothers you, I make no apologies. Either it doesn't apply to you, and you can take it as encouragement that you are doing things right, or it convicts you, and that's between you and God. Whether it encourages or convicts, take it as a challenge. That's what I'm doing. The next time God puts a need in your path, remember these scriptures. I'm aware there is a gift of mercy, and maybe you don't have it, but I'm not talking about the gift of mercy. I have that, and it's a totally different thing. It's not an excuse to turn a blind eye, saying 'That's not my calling.' I think these scriptures are pretty clear, and I for one don't want to reach the end of my days and hear this:

1 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’