There’s a lot of talk in political circles that God will judge our nation if we do wrong things. They say that if we allow “sin” God will judge us. These people align with a right-leaning political faction and are also blind to the needs of the poor. Often they attempt to stop food stamps or feeding the homeless. Let’s look at what Jesus said will bring judgement.
Matthew 25:31-46
To paraphrase the above screenshot from the Bible, Jesus says that He will return to judge the nations. He gives the criteria for what He will judge them for (verses 41-46):
- Not feeding the hungry, or giving drink to the thirsty
- Not giving clothes and meeting the needs of those with little
- Not visiting the sick, or helping them
- Not inviting a stranger in
It says that those judged will say, “Lord when where you like this, that we didn’t do these things to you.” The reply is, “when you didn’t do it for the least of these, you didn’t do it to Me.”
In other words, NOT feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving to others, letting the stranger in to our nation… these are as though we didn’t do it to God… and the punishment… well the punishment is hell.
Note that Jesus didn’t say here, “I’ll judge the nations because of abortion, because of infanticide, because of sexual impurity…” Instead, He talks to the believers and says most of you will go to hell because you just weren’t doing good. You preferred to care for yourselves, for people like yourselves. You abandoned people who were in need. You removed people who were strangers.
Think on that, then consider events around us:
GOP Congressman quotes the Bible to deny food stamps to the poor
President Trump: Mass deportation and Removal of Aid
I don’t expect politicians to be spiritual. But spiritual people today think that these same politicians are doing God’s work – so they align with it.
With zeal and zest I see “Christians,” cheering as people lose their jobs. As people are denied benefits. As people are tossed out of the country. As people are demonized.
Some say that “we can’t afford it,” or that “we need our money back.” They talk about taxes and money, but Jesus said:
- “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world at the cost of his soul?” (Matthew 8:36)
- “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” when asked about paying taxes (Mark 12:13-17)
Jesus clearly says in Matthew 25, that the result of being like this is hell. Through his message He warned about selfishness and greed: that it’s nearly impossible for a rich man to enter heaven. The reason is due to the wealthy not caring for others. The most giving are often the most impoverished.
For those Christians who align with anger towards the humbled and poor, consider the reward of this (according to Jesus) is hell…